Serving The Truth

Our restaurants have always supported employees’ right to choose whether or not to be in a union. When presented with that choice, the vast majority of our Washington, D.C. restaurant workers have said NO to UNITE HERE Local 25.

A boycott will only hurt workers by hindering restaurant business, reducing their potential wages, and interfering with their livelihoods. A restaurant in and of itself cannot be forced to unionize; that decision lies with the workers, who have repeatedly stated they do not want to unionize, despite ongoing intimidation tactics. Ironically, a union that claims to want to represent STARR Restaurant workers is promoting and engaging in conduct that hurts them.

The vast majority of the so-called “workers” at the protests, both in Philadelphia and D.C., are not our colleagues, and do not work with us or in STARR restaurants. They are paid, professional protestors for hire.

According to a report by Eater and firsthand employee accounts, there are workers at D.C.’s STARR Restaurants who say they were approached by members of Unite Here Local 25 –– at their homes, at night, and multiple times. These are situations which can make anyone feel uncomfortable and intimidated.

• Some workers indicated they felt pressured by the union to sign union cards showing a desire to unionize, despite their true feelings and deep satisfaction with their jobs.
• They describe the union as being “forceful.” One longtime bartender at Le Diplomate, said union representatives showed up at her house “more than five” separate times between the hours of 7:00-9:30 p.m., disrupting her home and scaring her children.
• She ultimately and only agreed to the union’s demand to sign a card after she found Unite Here Local 25 union representatives waiting for her on the street after leaving a shift at her other place of work. This worker’s experience is one of several similar stories told by STARR workers regarding the harassment by union representatives. Signing a union card does not mean employees want to unionize. Signed cards mean there is only an interest that may or may not result in a vote. Anyone who signed a card can vote “yes” or “no.”
• Unions often lose elections because employees get more educated after signing a card. In this instance, Unite Here Local 25 has not even been able to get the minimum number of cards signed needed to ask for a vote at the majority of STARR Restaurants in Washington, D.C.

This is patently false. Workers are the lifeblood of these restaurants and the most important part of our shared success. We make every attempt to make sure they feel supported and heard.

No! If that were true, employees at Pastis would not have voted against Local 25. Our workers have always had the support to choose We believe in allowing workers to make informed decisions over whether to join a union. It is entirely their decision. We do not believe in coercion or presenting inaccurate information to workers to influence that decision. Many workers have been working in these restaurants for several years, and the truth is, they have stayed because they are happy with and appreciate the benefits, flexibility, and culture in the restaurant where they have chosen to work.

Union members are required to pay dues –– meaning that the more workers that unionize, the more money the union will take in. The “business” of supporting a union means workers are sharing their hard-earned wages with a very powerful, and often financially motivated entity.