Restaurant Workers Union (RWU-STR) Local 1 and the brave workers at Lodi restaurant are fighting for justice.
The Restaurant Workers Union (RWU-STR) Local 1 is a new NYC union that was created after the Covid Pandemic. It was founded by restaurant workers who suffered after many of the restaurants they worked at closed or remained opened and experienced the harsh working conditions of the service industry. Now, they are supporting workers at Lodi to organize their workplace. Lodi is a restaurant at the Rockefeller Center by Ignacio Mattos and Mattos Hospitality Group. The workers are calling for a living wage, cost-of-living adjustments, wage transparency, and better worker safety conditions. They delivered a list of demands to management on January 25, 2023, and since then have been actively campaigning. They have released a series of videos and digital media that explains in detail the issues the workers face and of what Lodi’s response has been. The different resources that explain the workers’ issues can be found on the linktree here.
Lodi has not been as kind as they say they are, hiring a firm to spook their workers, oops I mean ‘family’. They have hired 🐀 Luis Medina aka Luis Alvarez, a not-so-great-speller, to hold captive audience meeting and intimidate union supporters, because they really care about their family. The Lodi Workers responded by filing an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge against Lodi for union busting, leaving Lodi to look like a ghoul from Scooby-Doo( I woulda done it too if it wasn’t for these meddling Federal Laws).
The important thing is that on Monday, February 27 and Tuesday, February 28 the workers were able to cast their votes at a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) union election, at the Morrell Room right next to Lodi. Stay tuned for the results! But remember, this is not just a fight for the workers at Lodi, but for all workers everywhere who are struggling to make ends meet in the face of a system that prioritizes profits over people. 💪