K'jipuktuk (Halifax) – Workers and locals at the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union's (NSGEU) biennial passed the hat, the union matched the donations, and all told just over $11,000 was raised to cover the costs of living for recently dismissed Just Us! baristas Shay Exnuga and Elijah Williams.

Exnuga and Williams' complaint over being dismissed because of their attempts to unionize - a contravention of the Trade Union Act - is now before the Nova Scotia Labour Relations Board.

Other unions within the province have also come to the assistance of the baristas and their union drive. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Nova Scotia recently donated $1,000 to the cause; the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) Nova Scotia intends to donate the proceeds of a solidarity auction; while the Public Service Alliance of Canada – Atlantic has publicly cancelled all contracts with Just Us! Coffee Roasters until the baristas are reinstated and are allowed to unionize at their place of work.

“I have to say that I'm absolutely blown away, by not just inter-union solidarity, but with worker to worker solidarity in Nova Scotia,” says Jason Edwards, organizer with the Service Employees International Union local 2. “Even beyond the structures of the union, workers are saying to Shay, Charlie, Eli and myself: 'Your fight matters. We care about your fight. And we care not just about ourselves getting a few dollar increases in our next bargaining round.' They actually care about people's rights being respected and about labour in general for all people in the province.”