Restaurant workers wanted to unionize at Hotel Figueroa, now all 5 restaurants are closing
Restaurant workers wanted to unionize at Hotel Figueroa, now all 5 restaurants are closing
by liverichly
22 Comments
liverichly
Highlights of article:
>Six days after restaurant workers at a hip downtown hotel filed cards to organize a union, the hotel’s food operator declared it would shutter the dining establishments that employed them, the latest in a string of showdowns and confrontations between workers and employers in L.A. area restaurants.
> The case is playing out at the Hotel Figueroa in downtown, home of Sparrow Italia, Cafe Fig, Bar Magnolia, the Cafeteria and La Casita at Driftwood. The historic building has for the last two decades built a following for its Mediterranean-inspired space and stylish dining rooms, but behind closed doors, tension has loomed between the third-party management company behind the restaurants, called Noble 33, and the estimated 100 food and beverage workers who run them.
> On Dec. 8, food and beverage workers who worked for Noble 33 notified their management that they intended to form a union, and submitted cards to do so.
> Six days later, Noble 33 emailed its food workers, announcing that it would permanently shutter the restaurants by mid-February and lay off its food and beverage staff before then, according to a letter sent to employees on Dec. 14.
> Noble 33 contends that its contract with Hotel Figueroa stipulates that the unionization of food and beverage employees would trigger a kill clause between both parties. “It would be a breach of the hotel’s current unionization agreement with the union,” a Noble 33 spokesperson said in a written statement.
> Hotel Figueroa and Unite Here Local 11 deny this claim.
amoncada14
Fuuuuck these greedy ass corporations
AlfalfaWolf
I wonder if worker co-op restaurants would be a better model?
Persianx6
In short, they can’t operate without making more profits off overpriced food bought by tourists, because they don’t want to.
Duckfoot2021
Seems like ghoulish overkill, but considering the extremely high minimum wage California has created for food workers, the union does seem like an overreach that backfired.
I used to work in restaurants, but I’m not sure I can honestly get behind the idea of trying to unionize them high minimum wage is already guaranteed by the state. If anyone cares to make the counter argument, I’d like to read it
Fabtacular1
Not sure most recognize what shaky footing DTLA restaurants are on, even without a unionized labor force.
So many restaurants in DTLA have closed post-COVID. So many empty spaces.
These people are trying to squeeze blood from a stone.
nirad
Independent restaurants are a terrible target for unionization. They barely scrape by. I suspect the hotel will close because of this. Unite Here Local 11 behaves more like an activist group hell bent on creating chaos than a union interested in organizing workers. They use every tactic, including bullshit CEQA lawsuits, to shut things down and hurt the economy of our city.
bluefrostyAP
Restaurants are already on razor thin profit margins.
Running a business isn’t charity work. What did they think was going to happen?
colpisce_ancora
Taking their ball and going home. Business owners are literal children.
and Coming soon – **Villa Noble**. Fuck these guys.
dietcokewLime
If I own a $1 million restaurant business and after all the cost of rent/wages/food/etc my business generates $50,000 in profit then my return on this business is only 5%. That is terrible given that you can get 5% risk free at the bank.
My investors are expecting me to return them much more than 5% and probably over 10%. If I cannot do that then they will want to pull their funding and sell their stake in my business. It’s also likely that my business is funded by a business loan from a local bank and I’m paying 7-8%+ on my loan.
Just because I made a profit does not mean I am safe, if the restaurants cannot turn a consistent and substantial profit then over time it will inevitably fail.
They are squeezed on all sides by employees, investors, and customers. The unionization was likely not the only reason they closed but it definitely helped force their hand. It’s why restaurants are a bad investment and risky business to own.
Curleysound
If you can’t afford to pay your staff, you can’t afford to be in business.
caulds989
Def gonna go support these restaurants if they reopen. Unions are fucking cancer to workers and employers.
Ok_Strain_2065
Just last year I was saying how insane prices of food is in LA, I got downvoted and shit talked
Hahahaahah
Usuebur
Congratulations! You played yourself!
zoglog
Mutually assured destruction doenst work always I guess 🤣
K2941FZFE
That’s too bad. It had a nice, cozy feel to it.
JasonMBauer
That sucks. I love hitting Sparrow for dinner before a Kings Game. CA is such a shitty state for business and restaurants particularly. Hope the voters wise up before everything good about this state is gone.
Zealousideal-Dig8210
Restaurants operated by AI is the solution
Llee00
Checkmate
I don’t give af, I support this move
Rudeboy237
“Restaurant margins are so thin! You just don’t understand business! I should be able to pay people dirt so I can keep my restaurant open!”
If you can’t afford a business you don’t get to run one. 🤷🏻♂️
AppropriateReaction6
So many “what would the workers think would happen?” Not many, “what would owners think would happen if they didn’t pay enough?” This is a systemic problem and you can’t blame workers for using every tactic to make a good living. We don’t blame owners for taking every chance to turn a profit.
22 Comments
Highlights of article:
>Six days after restaurant workers at a hip downtown hotel filed cards to organize a union, the hotel’s food operator declared it would shutter the dining establishments that employed them, the latest in a string of showdowns and confrontations between workers and employers in L.A. area restaurants.
> The case is playing out at the Hotel Figueroa in downtown, home of Sparrow Italia, Cafe Fig, Bar Magnolia, the Cafeteria and La Casita at Driftwood. The historic building has for the last two decades built a following for its Mediterranean-inspired space and stylish dining rooms, but behind closed doors, tension has loomed between the third-party management company behind the restaurants, called Noble 33, and the estimated 100 food and beverage workers who run them.
> On Dec. 8, food and beverage workers who worked for Noble 33 notified their management that they intended to form a union, and submitted cards to do so.
> Six days later, Noble 33 emailed its food workers, announcing that it would permanently shutter the restaurants by mid-February and lay off its food and beverage staff before then, according to a letter sent to employees on Dec. 14.
> Noble 33 contends that its contract with Hotel Figueroa stipulates that the unionization of food and beverage employees would trigger a kill clause between both parties. “It would be a breach of the hotel’s current unionization agreement with the union,” a Noble 33 spokesperson said in a written statement.
> Hotel Figueroa and Unite Here Local 11 deny this claim.
Fuuuuck these greedy ass corporations
I wonder if worker co-op restaurants would be a better model?
In short, they can’t operate without making more profits off overpriced food bought by tourists, because they don’t want to.
Seems like ghoulish overkill, but considering the extremely high minimum wage California has created for food workers, the union does seem like an overreach that backfired.
I used to work in restaurants, but I’m not sure I can honestly get behind the idea of trying to unionize them high minimum wage is already guaranteed by the state. If anyone cares to make the counter argument, I’d like to read it
Not sure most recognize what shaky footing DTLA restaurants are on, even without a unionized labor force.
So many restaurants in DTLA have closed post-COVID. So many empty spaces.
These people are trying to squeeze blood from a stone.
Independent restaurants are a terrible target for unionization. They barely scrape by. I suspect the hotel will close because of this. Unite Here Local 11 behaves more like an activist group hell bent on creating chaos than a union interested in organizing workers. They use every tactic, including bullshit CEQA lawsuits, to shut things down and hurt the economy of our city.
Restaurants are already on razor thin profit margins.
Running a business isn’t charity work. What did they think was going to happen?
Taking their ball and going home. Business owners are literal children.
Here are the restaurants [listed on Noble 33’s website](https://www.noble33.com/locations), all of which I will be avoiding:
**Toca Madera**,
**Casa Madra**,
**Sparrow Italia**,
**Meduza Mediterrania**,
and Coming soon – **Villa Noble**.
Fuck these guys.
If I own a $1 million restaurant business and after all the cost of rent/wages/food/etc my business generates $50,000 in profit then my return on this business is only 5%. That is terrible given that you can get 5% risk free at the bank.
My investors are expecting me to return them much more than 5% and probably over 10%. If I cannot do that then they will want to pull their funding and sell their stake in my business. It’s also likely that my business is funded by a business loan from a local bank and I’m paying 7-8%+ on my loan.
Just because I made a profit does not mean I am safe, if the restaurants cannot turn a consistent and substantial profit then over time it will inevitably fail.
They are squeezed on all sides by employees, investors, and customers. The unionization was likely not the only reason they closed but it definitely helped force their hand. It’s why restaurants are a bad investment and risky business to own.
If you can’t afford to pay your staff, you can’t afford to be in business.
Def gonna go support these restaurants if they reopen. Unions are fucking cancer to workers and employers.
Just last year I was saying how insane prices of food is in LA, I got downvoted and shit talked
Hahahaahah
Congratulations! You played yourself!
Mutually assured destruction doenst work always I guess 🤣
That’s too bad. It had a nice, cozy feel to it.
That sucks. I love hitting Sparrow for dinner before a Kings Game. CA is such a shitty state for business and restaurants particularly. Hope the voters wise up before everything good about this state is gone.
Restaurants operated by AI is the solution
Checkmate
I don’t give af, I support this move
“Restaurant margins are so thin! You just don’t understand business! I should be able to pay people dirt so I can keep my restaurant open!”
If you can’t afford a business you don’t get to run one. 🤷🏻♂️
So many “what would the workers think would happen?” Not many, “what would owners think would happen if they didn’t pay enough?” This is a systemic problem and you can’t blame workers for using every tactic to make a good living. We don’t blame owners for taking every chance to turn a profit.