Support Cherry Street Employees’ fight for Fair Wages

Cherry Street Coffee House Owner, Ali Ghambari, has recently lobbied for paying his workers below minimum wage. At a city council meeting, he threatened to close down stores as a result of having to lose the tip credit to get away with paying his employees $17.25/hr, $2.72 less than the actual Seattle minimum wage. We, as workers of Cherry Street, will not accept his refusal to take care of his staff, or “family”, as he likes to call us.

On top of this, he has proven time and time again to be a sexist and ignorant man, calling his employees sexy, and ignoring requests to cease doing so.

This behavior caused multiple Cherry Street locations to walk out on Saturday, August 17th, with multiple employees quitting on the spot. His behavior has gotten out of control and will not be tolerated by us.

Along with the employees that have quit, effective immediately, others have gotten their hours cut significantly with no warning. Many of us cannot afford to live in this city as it is, and cannot afford to lose hours or be out of a job.

An official letter has been sent to Ali with a list of demands to make our work environment safe, stable, and comfortable moving forward.

We are asking our community to support us in our fight for our jobs, and our livelihood. We would like to raise money for those without a job or with a loss of hours.

As we are awaiting a response to our letter from our employers, the future of those of us who still work at Cherry Street is undetermined. This fund will also be used to support future employees who may be wronged by this company.

Your care and support means the world to us!