““It fucks with my body.” “It’s stressful and exhausting.” “My feet hurt from standing too long.” “We don’t get to just sit down sometimes and are expected to always be moving,” as respondents to our survey reflected.¹ The circuits of capitalist accumulation also circulate through our bodies. This is even more true for those in the service sector and working in cafes. It is in these workplaces that we begin our inquiry.”

Read more of our workers’ inquiry with Blue Bottle Independent Union and Kevin Van Meter on the Notes from Below website. Grateful to our comrades for publishing our inquiry.

Part 1 of Class Composition in the Café Sector gives an analysis of class composition the café sector based on survey responses and one-on-one interviews. We ask “what do café workers think about and do at work?”, and look at issues of triangulation between front and back of house, workers’ control of the labor process, wages, and safety at work.

Part 2 of Class Composition in the Café Sector looks at café worker self-activity and self-organization in the sector, including examples of recent organizing and strike activity, and a discussion of workplace democracy and self-management.

Are you a cafe worker?

As the next step in our inquiry, we are circulating “Class Composition in the Cafe Sector” for further comment, interviewing organizers, holding release events, and publishing our collected findings. Blue Bottle Independent Union and Workers Inquiry Dot Work invite café workers to respond to our findings at www.workersinquiry.work with the following prompts with 250-500 words by September 15, 2025.

1. What resonated and didn’t resonate with you?
2. How are you and your coworkers organised informally at work? How do you communicate, and show solidarity and mutual aid with each other?
3. What are your current organising goals? What is the organizing plan like how will you make decisions?