Unions Are Adding Some Heat in the Kitchen for Food & Beverage Employers 

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reported that for the first six months of fiscal year 2022 (October 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022), labor unions filed 58 percent more representation petitions than they did during the same period a year earlier. According to a National Public Radio analysis, the accommodations and food services industry makes up nearly 28 percent of new union election petitions (a huge jump from the fewer than four percent of union election petitions coming from the industry a decade ago). Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, unionization among employees within the food and beverage industry was relatively low.  However, many of these employees were deemed essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and were required to continue working as the virus spread. As a result, employees in the industry began to demand higher pay and better working conditions. 

It also seems that just about every day we are seeing a headline about a labor union organizing employees…