Chipotle permanently closing Maine store that filed to unionize

Chipotle Mexican Grill revealed it has shut down its store in Augusta, Maine, and the closure is permanent. This is the same branch that filed to unionize last month.

According to CNN Business, the said Chipotle location was actually shuttered on June 17, and it has never re-opened to the public since that time. It was noted that the Maine store was only open to carry out training activities for staff.

With the abrupt permanent closure, the staff in the store will be given their severance pay, and this was confirmed by the company’s chief corporate affairs officer. In any case, Chipotle’s move to close the store was said to have raised alarm among the union organizers who accused the restaurant of trying to suppress the staff.

"We have been unable to adequately staff this remote restaurant with crew and continue to be plagued with excessive call-outs and lack of availability from existing staff," Chipotle’s CCAO, Laurie Schalow, said in a statement on Tuesday, July 19.

Schalow went on to explain the branch’s shutdown, "Because of these ongoing staffing challenges, there is no probability of reopening in the foreseeable future, so we've made the decision to permanently close the restaurant."

She added that they are also having difficulties in finding new managers to lead the Augusta, Maine, store. Thus, they made the decision to cease its operations for good. Jeffrey Young, Chipotle United’s lawyer representing the union that is trying to organize the Augusta branch, said that the workers were supposed to decide whether to proceed with the representation vote or not on Tuesday, but they have learned that the management has closed the store.

With the situation, the hearing was canceled but for an indefinite time only. The lawyer said that Chipotle’s move to close the store is a "union-busting 101" and further commented that it was “meant to discourage not just the workers in the particular restaurant but other Chipotle organizing efforts in other places as well.

He went on to say that the move is simply sending a message to others that if they try to organize, the store would be closed. But despite what happened, Brandi McNease, a Chipotle Augusta employee leading the efforts to unionize, said they are still not done with trying to form a union.

Meanwhile, back in June, the employees have already filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to unionize, and they filed a new complaint following the sudden store closure this week, as per Bloomberg. They alleged that Chipotle did it in retaliation for their efforts.