Maine Restaurant Workers Coalition Planning Events for 2024] ertydsa

The Maine Restaurant Workers Coalition  is planning a series of public events for 2024 to strengthen restaurant worker organizing in Maine. Restaurant workers in Portland formed MRWC in 2020 to have a stronger voice in the industry to address their concerns in the workplace. The group emerged out of a series of calls between workers discussing lack of sick pay & COVID workplace protections, scheduling problems and general mistreatment during the pandemic.  After that, the group began meeting bi-weekly and eventually started holding public meetings. In June, the organization held a public meeting to solicit ideas for public events.

The first event, held in late December, was a screening of the short film City of Servers about workers' struggles and the class divide in Maine’s largest foodie scene.  About twenty-five service workers and labor advocates attended the film screening on Dec. 27. After the film, the attendees broke up into small groups to discuss the film and how it related to their personal workplace experiences, according to Pine & Roses. Workers shared stories about unreliable schedules, lack of benefits, wage theft, sexual harassment, parking issues, and the high cost of housing.

Outgoing MRWC organizer Katie Schools said that the group is planning an event in either late January or early February that will discuss different types of organizing in the restaurant industry, including shop-by-shop unions, industry-wide bargaining and workers coops.

"Right now they're focusing on a series of public events, but in a few months they are planning a retreat where they will decide what kind of organization they want to be and what they hope to achieve," said Schools.

MRWC's mission statement called its "Lofty Purpose" states: "We want to build a movement of restaurant workers in Southern Maine to fundamentally change the state of the restaurant industry. We aim to center & empower restaurant employees and to shift the balance of power from owners to laborers."

Since its formation, members of the group who work at  at the Vietnamese restaurant Công Tử Bột in Portland formed a union with UNITE HERE.

For more updates, follow the Maine Restaurant Coalition on Instagram.