A new policy that adds managers to their tip pools is unfairly punishing baristas and shift supervisors at Ottawa’s Bridgehead coffeehouses who recently received raises in the minimum wage, according to a local labor group.
The tip-sharing adjustment, which Bridgehead confirmed to CBC, according to Sean McKenny, president of the Ottawa & District Labour Council, undoes the recent progress made by minimum wage workers.
On October 1st, the Ontario government increased the minimum wage by a little over a dollar, to $16.55 per hour.
“It really is hard to understand,” said McKenny of Bridgehead’s decision. “Especially at a time when those minimum wage workers need that increase in wages.”
Bridgehead declined to be interviewed. Originally based in Ottawa, the company was purchased by Toronto-based Aegis Brands in 2019.
Paul Pascal, the president of Bridgehead, stated via email that managers were added to the pool in October “to acknowledge their contributions.”
“Our coffeehouse managers have always been an integral part of the team, actively contributing to the exceptional guest experience we strive to provide,” Pascal said
Front-line supervisors have long been involved in tip-sharing; in 2019, employees at a Niagara Falls, Ontario restaurant went on strike in part over this problem.
