After months of negotiations, Just Us! has reached a deal with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to unionize its Spring Garden Road café.

In a press release this afternoon, Just Us! general manager Debra Moore said the company will recognize the SEIU as the bargaining agent for the Spring Garden Road location.

Moore also said the company will hire back two workers, Shay Enxuga and Elijah Williams, who originally said they were dismissed in late March after management questioned them about unions and organizing. However, Moore maintains that the workers were not dismissed for attempting to unionize:*

“Just Us! and SEIU Local 2 have been having ongoing discussions and it has become apparent that there has been a misunderstanding between the parties,” Moore wrote.

“Just Us! did not terminate the employment of two of its employees for attempting to organize a Union at their Spring Garden location. The terminations were unrelated to union activity.

“As a good faith measure, however, Just Us! is willing to reinstate the employment of [the employees] to its Spring Garden location.”

Moore declined to comment for this story.

The union has accepted the Just Us! press release as fact and now agrees the company did not know about the unionization attempts prior to the dismissals, SEIU Local 2 spokesperson Jason Edwards said Friday afternoon.

"We've come to accept their release as being truth," Edwards said. "In their release they state that they were not aware and I think we've come to terms with that and signed off on that being the truth."

"I think that the term 'misunderstanding' is probably the best characterization."

He agreed Just Us! reinstated the employees as a good faith move, and to show they wanted to negotiate.

The SEIU representative was "incredibly excited" about the deal. "I think it's a jumping off point, a starting point, for a larger movement," he said.

"People with crappy jobs don't have to accept they have crappy jobs."

Ninety per cent of employees voted to unionize the Spring Garden Road café, Edwards said. Enxuga and Williams also voted.

Employees signed union cards up until June 26. Just Us! agreed to recognize the union if the SEIU could demonstrate the employees wanted one, Edwards said.

The café will automatically recognize the SEIU as the bargaining unit for any new Just Us! cafes that open in the future, Moore said. No Just Us! locations other than the Spring Garden Road café are currently unionized.

Edwards said he had heard indications that other Just Us! locations are also interested in unionizing. The deal gives those employees some degree of protection if they decide to organize, he said.

Co-op members and supervisors will not be represented by the union, according to the agreement.

Workers at the Spring Garden Road café began organizing in January.

On April 2, Enxuga and Williams told the Halifax Media Co-op they were dismissed on or around March 27 after a supervisor questioned them about unions and organizing.

Following their job termination, the workers and the SEIU held a rally in April.

"All we're asking is for our jobs back and for Just Us! to recognize our right to form a union," Enxuga said at the rally.

This story will be updated with more information as it becomes available.

*Clarification: HMC originally wrote that Moore said the employees were not dismissed. This was updated to read they were not dismissed for attempting to unionize. We regret this mistake.