Last week, we announced we are preparing to boycott Union Kitchen stores beginning at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, June 16 in response to management’s ongoing efforts to undermine the workers’ union – efforts that have been subject to multiple charges with the National Labor Relations Board and a complaint by the federal labor prosecutor.
Moments before we made this announcement, the company came to us and promised to do better. They have until June 16th to prove it. The countdown has begun.
To prove they’re serious about doing better, we have called on management to take the following steps:
- Reinstate tipping immediately. As our lawsuit alleges, Union Kitchen abolished tipping in retaliation against the workers who caught them failing to pay us our tips. We are calling on Union Kitchen to reinstate tipping immediately and pay tips to the workers who earn them.
- Respond to our contract proposals. Since negotiations over a union contract began, we have provided many proposals that have so far gone without any response from management, even after several months. That is no way to negotiate a contract. We are calling on Union Kitchen to provide full responses to all outstanding proposals.
- Respond to our financial records request. Over and over, Union Kitchen has claimed the company does not have the money to pay for any improvements to workers’ compensation. The company has even claimed it plans to shut down several stores. But when we have requested documentation to back up these claims, Union Kitchen has failed to respond, even though they are legally required to do so under federal law. We are calling on Union Kitchen to immediately respond to our financial records requests so we can properly negotiate a contract.
These steps are perfectly reasonable and would go a long way to demonstrating Union Kitchen’s commitment to negotiating in good faith. Moreover, not a single one of these steps costs Union Kitchen money.
If Union Kitchen continues to refuse to take these modest steps, we will launch our boycott as planned at on Friday, June 16.