unions have been heavy after service sector for a while now. Same thing with hotel maids and baristas
On Mon, Nov 3, 2025 at 1:34 PM Bill Prince <[email protected]> wrote: > Reading the article, the issue did not seem about wages, but about safety. > I struggle to understand what safety issue in a bar would require a union > to correct? > > Besides that, a business as small as a bar, and as generic as the skill > set required of an employee, seems that a union is not a great idea. > > > bp > <part15sbs{at}gmail{dot}com> > > On 11/3/2025 8:59 AM, [email protected] wrote: > > I found myself writing a post on a gay bar facebook page this morning. > > The bar had closed due to the normal reasons small businesses close. > > Someone else tried to give it a go this summer. > > Their employes tried to unionize. Union supporters started to picket. > Sales trickled to a halt. So the owner first fired all the employees (and > broke a labor law) reinstated them and closed. > > > > Big outrage amongst the gay left. Or maybe just the left (of all > predilections and proclivities). > > > > Check out how this huge business with its thousands of employees looks > like from the outside: > > 102 South 600 West Salt Lake City. > > Ill bet they don’t have 10 employees at the most. > > > > I wrote both to the owner and to the folks posting on the bars FB page > that unless you have risked everything to start a small business you have > no standing. Unless you have lived with the daily burden of meeting the > next payroll you do not understand. If you think a super tiny business > like this should be subject to the burdens of a union shop, you would be > happier in a socialist country. > > > > Here is the article in the SL Trib this morning: > > > > As historic LGBTQ+ bar closes in SLC, owner and union organizers hope to > find ‘a path forward’ > > By BROCK MARCHANT, SHEILA MCCANN and RICK EGAN The Salt Lake Tribune > > The SunTrapp, Salt Lake City's iconic LGBTQ+ gathering spot, "will be > closing," the bar announced on Instagram Friday — weeks after a group of > employees asked the owner to recognize their proposed union. > > About 50 people were gathered outside the bar at 102 S. 600 West shortly > after the post was published Friday night. A sign on its door said it was > closed for a private party. > > In September, SunTrapp Workers United (SWU) asked bar owner Mary Peterson > to voluntarily recognize the proposed union by Oct. 10, according to a news > release. Peterson told The Salt Lake Tribune in a text at the time that her > business "is too small. The SunTrapp will not be unionizing." > > But in the statement posted Friday night, she said, "I want to be clear > that I support the rights of all employees to choose whether they want to > join a union." > > The business was "committed to engaging" in the next step, which would > have been a secret ballot election conducted by the National Labor > Relations Board, she said. "Unfortunately, because of the government > shutdown, the National Labor Relations Board was closed and the election > process was stopped." > > The bar has tried to stay open during the shutdown, she said, but "sadly, > the financial impact of consistent protests has made it impossible for us > to remain open. As such, we will be closing the SunTrapp on October 31st, > 2025." > > Natalie Jankowski, a lead bartender at The SunTrapp and a member of the > SWU organizing committee, said she and other union members have not felt > Peterson supported their rights as they have worked to unionize with > Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 7765. > > Two hours after she and other SunTrapp workers delivered a letter — which > stated that the majority of staff had signed union authorization cards — to > Peterson on Sep. 26, Peterson fired them, Jankowski said. She added that > Peterson quickly reversed the decision and reinstated them. > > Still, believing Peterson had committed several unfair labor practices, > Jankowski said she and other pro-union staff members went on strike on Oct. > 3. > > Since then, she said, staff members and their supporters have picketed in > front of the bar every Friday and Saturday night. Meanwhile, others were > hired to fill the positions of the staffers on strike, according to > Jankowski. > > For the last two weeks, Jankowski added, the workers' lawyer went back and > forth with Peterson's attorney, unsuccessfully requesting a meeting. > > "She closed down instead of talking with us," Jankowski said. "She had > every opportunity to do that." > > Jankowski said she was with the group who had intended to picket Friday > night when she learned the bar was closing. Around her, she said, some > staff members shed tears. "It is profoundly sad," she said, "that our owner > saw our love for this place as a threat." > > In her Instagram post, Peterson said she's "not certain" what a path > forward looks like for SunTrapp, though she is hopeful for one. > > Under Utah law, a bar must notify the Utah Department of Alcoholic > Beverage Services if the owners plan to close for more than 10 days, or it > may forfeit its license. The bar owner can apply for an extension to be > closed longer (for remodeling or after a fire, for example), but for the > deadline to be extended, the DABS commissioners must approve the > application. > > Derek Petersen, who said he was a former administrative assistant and > bartender at SunTrapp and now helps with SWU, was with the crowd outside > the bar Friday night. He had read Friday's Instagram post that said the bar > was closing, he said, "instead of sitting down with the union and with > queer workers. I think that's just a big disappointment for the queer > community. They deserve and the workers deserve some kind of conversation." > > Others in the community have defended Peterson, who reopened the bar last > year after a previous owner closed it. Peterson posted her own video > statement on Facebook earlier this month, where she said the bar was in > danger of closing. She acknowledged firing and then rehiring workers after > receiving the SWU letter, saying she had been "ignorant" of the laws > protecting unionization activities. > > On its Instagram account two weeks ago, SWU noted: "We do not want the bar > to close. All we want is to collaborate with ownership on a better, safer > Suntrapp!" Posts on the account detail the safety measures and workplace > changes its members requested. > > "The reason we unionized was not to do a takeover, was not to ruin the > bar, was not to close down the bar," Jankowski said. "We wanted to unionize > to save and preserve the bar." > > The employees hope the bar reopens, she said. The SunTrapp is not just a > second home to many LGBTQ+ people, but also to many staff members, she > said, who often hang out there even when they are not working. > > "We want to ensure its longevity, and we want to create policies and rules > and safety policies that really just secure the future of that bar," > Jankowski had told the Tribune in September, "because all of the staff > loves it so much, and so do the customers." > > -- > AF mailing list > [email protected] > http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com >
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