To everyone visiting Seattle for Friday’s World Cup match between the United States and Australia: welcome, can we interest you in some labor unrest? On Thursday, employees at a pair of unrelated, big-name hospitality businesses went on strike. Workers at the Hilton Embassy Suites, a hotel at Pioneer Square, began their strike at 6:30 a.m. and are picketing the hotel, which is a short walk from the World Cup match at Lumen Field. Maybe even more notably, the unionized staff at the Walrus and the Carpenter, the famed oyster bar and seafood restaurant co-owned by chef Renee Erickson, are also on strike. The Embassy employees belong to Unite Here Local 8, a union that represents hospitality and food workers all over the region. The Walrus workers are part of United Creatures of the Sea, a small independent union made up of workers at the Walrus, Jeffry’s, and doughnut shop General Porpoise, which are all part of Erickson’s Sea Creatures restaurant group. While hotel employees are often unionized, restaurants like the Walrus rarely ever are—workers organized last year after management replaced a tip pooling system with a service charge, which the union says reduced wages for many of its workers.  The rank-and-file of both unions voted to authorize a strike two weeks ago, giving leadership the ability to call a work stoppage if negotiations with management didn’t progress quickly enough. In both cases, that’s what happened, and in both cases, wages were a top issue.  “I am striking because I don’t get enough hours, and I don’t make enough money,” said Teresa Joseph, an Embassy Suites restaurant worker and Local 8 union leader, in a statement. “I just want to be able to live in the city I work in. I take the metro from Kent every day because I can’t afford to fix my car.”  Embassy Suites employees also want to require their bosses to notify them if ICE or DHS is on the hotel property — an issue that’s front-of-mind for many members of what the union says is a majority-immigrant workforce. Picketers with Local 8 are drawing attention to that dispute with signs reading, “No ICE in our cup.” In the case of the Walrus, wages were the top issue for the union going into negotiations, but the union has been frustrated by changes to working conditions—like adjustments to the health insurance plan—that it says management can’t legally make without union input. United Creatures of the Sea has filed multiple National Labor Relations Board complaints alleging restaurant bosses are violating labor law. Sea Creatures management has filed its own NLRB complaint accusing the union of bargaining in bad faith.  “Workers contend that Sea Creatures has engaged in a sustained pattern of unfair labor practices intended to undermine the union, delay negotiations, and avoid reaching a first collective bargaining agreement,” the union said in a statement. The union also says that Sea Creatures has been giving more hours to management workers, damaging the union’s bargaining power. Organizers previously told The Stranger that they had made progress in negotiations about the core service charge issue but that these alleged unfair labor practice violations convinced the union a strike was necessary. After the strike authorization vote in early June, the union says it sent a proposal to management in hopes that it would hasten the end of negotiations. “More than a week later the union received a reply, which included regressive proposals on wages and benefits and failed to meaningfully address the outstanding issues,” the union said in a statement. “At the last minute when it looked like a deal was inevitable they suddenly wanted to lower kitchen wages, which is something we settled 6 months ago,” Ford Nickel, a former Walrus server and union leader, said in a text. The unions at Embassy Suites and the Walrus picketed their respective businesses, which are both remaining open, operating with non-union workers. “Our team is doing their best to give customers the experience we are known for,” said Sea Creatures co-owner Jeremy Price in an email. “We remain committed to working through our current union negotiations in good faith, reaching a fair agreement and returning to regular operations.” Hilton sent The Stranger a similar statement affirming that management was “negotiating in good faith toward a fair and reasonable agreement,” though a union representative said that there wasn’t another bargaining session scheduled. The unions are asking for members of the public to not cross the picket lines by not eating at the Walrus or or staying at Embassy Suites. “Help Renee Erickson understand that these workers aren’t part of her aesthetic,” United Creatures of the Sea said in a statement. “They’re the difference between a restaurant and an empty dining room.” The post World Cup Strikers appeared first on The Stranger. ...read more read less