More clarifications, if anything was in doubt (Patreon)

I want to get this out here, clearly and quickly. I've said this in each public post, and will say it again:

• We've been planning for several weeks to wind down to-order food & drink, and that's an economic necessity. We simply cannot continue to lose money on offering these products.
• Removing food & to-order drinks from the menu (milkshakes, hot drinks, etc.) and the overhead associated with those items is the only expected change to our business plans.
• We were able to make a plan that retains all current staff and will allow for expanded hours & more shifts in the mid- to long-term. I am committed to providing a sustainable compensation model, and am open to improving our current offer as we get the business back on the right footing.

It's an unfortunate fact that I was planning the change to our product and services offering for several weeks while Wicked Grounds staff were also planning to unionize. It's understandable, but unfortunate, that no one had insight into the full picture.

I continue to believe that we're all looking at the same set of concerns: we are simply underfunded on the cafe side, and as a net-negative offering we're not in a position to fund the cafe to offer anything like its old standards from the early days of my tenure. No one likes that. We may have different ways we want to address it, but our concerns are aligned. 

This Monday, we had an all hands meeting at which I announced the shift to retail & events. About 45 minutes into that meeting, many staff announced that they were forming a union. I was caught off guard but have made clear to everyone that I welcome all staff to continue at Wicked Grounds as our operations evolve.

I continue to support and encourage the team to make their own choices about unionization and I will keep that discussion open. The team have asked me to negotiate with them in late May, and that is the current plan. If they approach me with a different plan, I'm open to that as well.

I hope this is helpful, and continue to welcome questions.

Warmly
Mir
Owner, Wicked Grounds
Mir@WickedGrounds.com

tl;dr: I plan to support the staff in the direction they feel is best. My only hard line in the sand is that funds do not exist to continue offering to-order food and drink, and Wicked Grounds cannot commit to bringing that back. Everything else is open to negotiation, and negotiation is what we do!