Update May 7: This story has been updated with new information about employee fundraising efforts.

A popular vegan bakery in Southeast Portland has been closed since Friday, after employees walked off the job. 

Staff at Shoofly Vegan Bakery on SE Division say some  hadn’t received their paychecks as of Friday, May 2. It wasn’t the first time their pay was late.  

“This is the second pay period in a row where employee paychecks were going to be late and we were not being told why they were late,” Conner Waring, a cake department supervisor at Shoofly, told the Mercury. “A lot of us live paycheck to paycheck. [The owner] is not telling us why we aren’t getting paid or giving us any communication through this.”

That morning, employees posted a letter on the bakery’s window notifying customers that the bakery was closed due to a work stoppage over delayed pay. Some of the employees have filed a labor complaint with Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) over the delayed paychecks.

Shoofly opened its bakery and cafe in the Ford Building in inner Southeast Portland in 2021, offering a wide selection of pastries, muffins, scones, and sweet treats like cakes, along with coffee and other drinks. Oregon Secretary of State records show that the bakery’s original owner, Shannon Levens, sold the business last fall. The new owner, Tien Vominh, took the reins in February. Since then, he’s been more hands-off than the company’s previous owner and founder. 

“I have a general manager and I'm an absentee owner,” Vominh told the Mercury. “The staff is in place. I kept the same staff as before.”

Vominh said he wasn’t sure why employees were paid late, noting he wasn’t informed of any issues by the payroll company he uses. He said it may have been a processing delay from the banks or credit unions where employees have their checks deposited.

But email correspondence shows Vominh reached out to staff acknowledging the payroll issue in April.

“I just wanted to reach out to apologize to those affected by the late paycheck this past week. I want to assure you that this will never happen again,” Vominh said in an email to staff on Monday, April 21. “I'm sorry it wasn't communicated to you directly when I found out it was going to be an issue. …I'm changing how this is processed going forward and will make sure it doesn't happen again. My apologies!”

Staff say they got no warning before they encountered the same issue two weeks later.

Waring says Shoofly employs 10 to15 people across multiple shifts. Aside from selling baked goods daily out of its cafe, Shoofly also sells its products via wholesale arrangements to other local cafes and vendors. 

Employees say they’ve struggled to get consistent, clear communication from the bakery’s new owner.

Last week, the staff sent Vominh a letter notifying him of a newly formed employee union, which they asked to be formally, voluntarily recognized. Around the same time, Shoofly staff notified the owner that they wanted to purchase the business and turn it into an employee-owned co-op. In response, Vominh offered to meet with staff this week. Employees say their meeting has since been pushed back.

It’s unclear when or if Shoofly will reopen. Staff say they’re currently locked out of the building. 

Vominh grew frustrated at questions from the Mercury about the status of the business and its employees, and declined to comment on the extent of his communication with staff, many of whom now fear for their jobs. Employees told the Mercury Vominh was unhappy with recent slow sales at the bakery, and was looking for ways to cut costs.

“The owner threatened to close the entire wholesale department, because that was the area that was suffering the most,” says Jess Smith, an assistant general manager at Shoofly. 

When asked about the matter earlier that day, Vominh wouldn’t confirm whether he planned to discontinue the business’s wholesale operations, but disputed claims that he was going to cut staff.

“There’s no plan,” he said. “It’s a business. You have to assess profitability. You have to see where to improve. There’s no set plan, ever.”

Another manager confirmed Tuesday that all of Shoofly’s wholesale contracts had already been abruptly canceled, which would make staff cuts all but inevitable. 

Staff say they’re united in their mission to continue producing vegan baked goods, whether that’s under the Shoofly brand or not. 

“I think we’re all on the same page with how we feel about the situation,” Smith said. “It’s really sucked for everyone to see a place where they actually did enjoy going to work, suddenly degrade and disintegrate.”

Smith says if Vominh doesn’t agree to sell Shoofly to its employees, or doesn’t offer favorable terms, they’d like to start another business on their own. 

“We’re all experienced bakers,” Waring, the cake department supervisor, says. “We could find a job anywhere, but we want to work at Shoofly.”

Vominh told the Mercury he’s not ruling out the possibility of a sale. 

“If they have interest, it’s always available," he said, before rushing to end the conversation. “I really love the brand—that’s why I purchased it and I really hope we can find a way to bring it back to the community.”

For now, Shoofly staff have started their own Instagram account and a fundraiser to help replace lost wages. A bake sale and silent auction is also planned Saturday and Sunday, May 11 and 12 at two locations in Portland. 

 

 

 

 

 

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