Employees at three Union Kitchen stores in D.C. filed union petitions with the National Labor Relations Board Thursday, becoming the latest local chain to organize for better working conditions.

Union Kitchen started as a D.C.- based food accelerator, supporting food startups like Ice Cream Jubilee and Whisked bakery by offering business and technical assistance. The company has expanded to brick-and-mortar retail locations that sell packaged local products and made-to-order food and drinks at six stores in D.C. and Virginia.

Four current and former store employees involved in the effort to unionize tell DCist/WAMU that they appreciate the company’s unique approach to food and believe in Union Kitchen’s mission of supporting local entrepreneurs. So instead of quitting when wage and personnel issues arose, three of them, along with 17 co-workers, decided to form a union to improve their working conditions.

“The idea for the company is so good and there’s a really great foundation and structure for it to be this really amazing company,” says Emily Davis, a Union Kitchen employee since August 2020. “There’s just a lot of flaws, and we feel like, by unionizing, we can help to make it something really great.”

Through collective bargaining, Union Kitchen employees want a say in wage policies, COVID-19 protocols, and scheduling. They also want to create a formal grievance process, motivated in part by what some workers say was a discrepancy in how tips were paid out. Some...

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