MILWAUKEE — Lakefront Brewery employees may have to vote to unionize a second time after owners filed for an NLRB election.
On Oct. 30, the bartenders, servers, hosts, cooks, dishwashers and bussers employed by the brewery gathered to vote on joining the Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Organization — or MASH. According to MASH President Peter Rickman, support was overwhelming and most of those who voted, did so in favor of forming a union.
At that point, Rickman said it was up to the brewery’s ownership to respond to the request for recognition. The response was not what they had hoped.
“Instead of recognizing the union or even going to a card count conducted by a neutral, third party to confirm that majority support which we proposed…the employer unfortunately opted to pursue an NLRB election.” Rickman told WTMJ.
By filing for an election through the National Labor Relations Board, Lakefront Brewery had essentially restarted the election process, so their workers will need to vote again on something they had already decided.
“100% of Lakefront Brewery Hospitality workers already had an opportunity to not just cast a ballot, but to sign a legal document saying ‘I want to be represented by a union — this union — and I’m actually joining as a member,'” said Rickman. “Over 70% of Lakefront Brewery workers already signed those documents and that’s the basis on which we claimed the majority support and requested recognition.”
Rickman said he can understand why employers may be resistant to unions, but that once a majority of employee’s have voted to join a union, the responsible thing for an owner to do is recognize that choice. He said the union would like to avoid a strike or walkout, and Rickman would prefer to sit down with Lakefront Brewery and negotiate, so their employees can feel secure in jobs they love and business can continue.
“We don’t need an adversarial process, we don’t need fights. We don’t need the employer attempting to persuade, cajole, intimidate or coerce people to oppose unionization when they’ve already made that choice.”
Rickman told WTMJ the Lakefront Brewery’s employees want more direct say in what their employment looks like, but wouldn’t be putting forth the effort to unionize if they didn’t enjoy their jobs. He said they want a living wage and more say in how staffing and scheduling is done based on their needs, among other issues.
“You quit the jobs that you hate, you work to change the jobs that you love. So Lakefront Brewery workers want to have a meaningful voice — a real seat at the table.”
Rickman pointed to other major employers in the city like Fiserv Forum and the Pabst Theater who have both unionized through MASH. He said in each of those cases, when their employees moved to form a union the owners stepped aside and let their workers cast their votes. Rickman is worried that won’t be the case with the Lakefront Brewery.
He added employees are often exposed to misinformation, and union-busting techniques during the election process. Rickman hopes the Lakefront Brewery will still come to the table, recognize the formation of the union and negotiate, but adds they are ready for a fight.
“We know going into the NLRB election process that employers use that to systematically undermine majority support, but if that’s the only way forward, Lakefront Brewery workers will remain undaunted and will continue to express their majority at the ballot box.“
An initial NLRB hearing has been scheduled for November 22nd.
WTMJ reached out to the owner of Lakefront Brewery for comment but has not heard back.
