Tucson Restaurant workers organize despite union busting by boss – Liberation News

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Photo: Prep & Pastry workers and supporters

Workers at the popular brunch restaurant Prep & Pastry on Campbell organized a determined campaign with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 99 (UFCW 99), despite the overall lack of union density in the restaurant industry in what the United Nations calls the “City of Gastronomy” . Tucson, Arizona. The workers have received important concessions from management and are determined to continue the struggle.

The organization began in February 2021 after working conditions in the first year of the pandemic finally led workers to seek legal protection from the exploitative business practices of business owner Nathan Ares. Ares is the founder of the Ares Collective Group, which owns and operates two Prep & Pastry locations in Tucson, another location in Scottsdale, and Commoner & Co., and their newest restaurant and market, Flora’s Market Run.

Problems in the workplace promote the organization

After working conditions at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the seriousness of the exploitative practices of restaurant workers, Spyncer Wilson, a chef who has been with Prep & Pastry on Campbell for about three years, decided to take on the challenges of the organization in the highly fluctuating industry. He began reaching out to local unions for legal representation and eventually joined UFCW 99.

As restaurants across the country shifted from 50% take-out and back capacity, workers endured the stress of an unstable, unsafe work environment. “The working conditions were terrible. No personal protective equipment was made available to employees and temperature controls were carried out [rarely] forced [while] Sick people and concerns about COVID were laughed at, “recalled Wilson,” Hazard premiums were completely excluded and customers were not required to maintain social distance or wear masks. ”

Prep & Pastry on Campbell received over $ 1.5 million from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help mitigate lost revenue during state and federal workload reduction mandates. Despite the granting of PPP funding, hours have been cut, many employees have been laid off, and management has cut salaries. After unmet security needs and unsatisfied concerns, the lack of transparency on PPP funds fueled well-deserved distrust of owner Nathan Ares.

At this point, Wilson said he “sees the need to organize and get what” [they deserved] as workers and people. “His co-workers generally supported as” the exploitation ” [by owners and management] had already driven many to the edge. “

Fight for union recognition, which has met with retaliation from the company

After months of organizing with the support of UFCW 99, at least 30% of workers voted in favor of union recognition. On July 15, the Prep & Pastry Organizing Committee reached out to the management of Ares’ newest restaurant, Flora’s Market Run, demanding union recognition. Their demands included the right to breaks, job security, paid time off, hazard pay and an ongoing disciplinary process. Ares refused to recognize the union, thus initiating the union election process.

Retaliation against union organizing began the following week when several workers, many of whom were present during the delegation to Flora’s Market Run, had their hours cut.

Ares then began distributing letters providing workers with information promoting anti-union organizing, revoking union support cards, and lying about union activity. Workers were also invited to private meetings with Ares and management to determine their attitudes towards union formation.

Workers suspect election rigging

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has set up a mail-in voting process due to concerns about the increasing COVID-19 cases. Workers should submit their ballot papers by September 3rd to be included in the count. On September 13, in Phoenix, NLRB representative Joel Ruiz-Lopez began opening a package sent from his offices in Las Vegas, Nevada, and found the package to be unusually flat.

The package contained zero ballot papers! Witnesses from the Prep & Pastry Organizing Committee said they would certainly have sent their ballots within the allotted time frame. At least they should have been there.

Ruiz-Lopez initially counted the count with 0-0 votes, while an investigation into the missing ballot papers was carried out. A week later the ballot papers were settled and the counting resumed with no clear explanation as to why the ballot papers were initially misplaced. The NLRB results indicated a loss of 7-12 for union recognition. The members of the organizing committee were concerned about the way the election process was going, as several of their staff’s ballot papers were not considered, although they were sure to have been sent in before the deadline.

Anti-union tactics will not stop workers at Prep & Pastry

“The voting process was definitely not fair,” said Anthony Sanchez, a chef and member of the Prep & Pastry organizing committee. Sanchez was concerned that management was providing incorrect information about the union to restaurant workers. “When someone tells you something in the work hierarchy, you tend to believe them as a reliable source.”

Despite management attempts to crush the union, followed by the outcome of the elections, the fight for union representation at Prep & Pastry on Campbell continues. UFCW Local 99 will bring unfair labor charges against the company to either hold a re-election trial or to overturn a judge’s election in favor of a union representative.

Regardless of the hurdles, the Prep & Pastry Organizing Committee made immediate concessions in response to its organizing: workers were given wage increases, efforts were made to create safer working conditions, and free staff lunches were offered to workers at Flora’s Market Run. One of the most significant achievements for the workers at Prep & Pastry is that they are able to organize their workplace, build a worker power that can threaten the company with these concessions, and continue to be empowered to win union representation.

“Restaurant workers in Tucson need to unionize to make a living for themselves and their families,” Wilson told employees, denying them basic benefits. Restaurant workers deserve a break, that’s why [we all] need to be unionized. “

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