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Union House, Union Bar: The History of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union AFL-CIO
- GenresHistory
369 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1956
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May 7, 2022
This comprehensive history was written in 1956, so much has changed since then. There are many occupations in the culinary industry. A local was started in Chicago in 1866. They were iniitally benevolent and protective associations but grew into unions that organized into the International. Initially it was dominated by skilled workers and a part of the AFL. However, these were the days of small taverns, restaurants, and independent hotels. Initially, waiters and bartenders worked long hours for little pay. Many were immigrants. Some of the initially organizations required that people hired gave money crew chief. Yet, there many lessons to learn, like solidarity—if the bartenders in Manhattan are on strike, those from Brooklyn do not come and take their jobs.
Organizing these workers is a challenge as different cities had different populations and tensions. Yet, as the larger industry changes from small operations to larger chain hotels and restaurant the union has to adapt. We go from the craft model, the typical organizing model for AFL unions, to an industrial model, where you organize everyone who works in the hotel, not just waiters, bartenders and cooks, but the dishwashers, cleaning crews, and even the clerical workers. It takes a while for people to accept the industrial model, but when skilled waiters walk off the job and employers pull other staff to cover for them—people can see he logic of this new approach.
The book follows the major leaders: Jere Sullivan, Edgar Flore, Hugo Ernst, Ed Miller, and Jack Weinberger. Over the decades they shaped the international and took bold steps, even sending organizers to the South where wages were much lower. The culinary industry is fragile and there are many challenges, like Prohibition where serving alcohol is criminalized. It also drives the business underground and organized crime makes money and terrorizes people. The corruption is real and even when Prohibition is over, the racketeers are looking of new sources of revenue. Some cities were successful in fighting organized crime and keeping them out of union offices, but not all were able to do so.
Wars are also challenges, as was the Depression, where some unions were able to get the funds to buy food and feed their own workers and others rather than depend on soup lines. These culinary workers knew how to prepare and service food in humane ways.
Not only are they challenged by economic circumstances, but changes in employees, as women enter the workforce and are organized as cooks, as the industry expands into cafeterias and other venues. There are political tensions, as communists who were successful in organizing workers in some cities are not tolerated on the national level. Yet, strong leaders had to expel them from leadership roles, since they had the federal government looking at them. Yet, people had principals, so you might be expelled from office, but they never denied people the opportunity to work. You could go back to working the bar, cooking the food, and earning a living.
The union face hostile employers, owners who do not want to share running their business with anyone. Yet, strikes that are often widely supported are an important tool. Federal laws are also used against unions, so many minds have to be changed. After World War II, when many people’s eating habits had changed, there was more organizing of workers. As the international grew and also intervened in locals, we see growth and fewer strikes, as national leaders are able to negotiate and even get federal permission in the face to wage freezes.
Unions also expand into health care and insurance, when there are wages freezes to fight inflation. Unions invest in their people, especially when you can no longer hire chefs and their crews from Europe. We have investment in education and training. By 1948, the 40-hour week is accepted, and people get time and a half for overtime. This union embraced a diversity of workers, include Black employees. While Pullman Porters were in the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porter, another AFL union. The dining car waiters on the trains had to overcome barriers, but they affiliate with the independent Railway Brotherhoods and AFL railway unions. Unionizations means significant increasing in wages, reducing hours, and finally parity with other railway labor.
As a huge union, it had political power and supported liberal cases. Promoting advancement for working class people, included skilled crafts men and women. Learning this history is rich and helps me think about employers, federal regulation and the choices the unions have to make in our time.
Organizing these workers is a challenge as different cities had different populations and tensions. Yet, as the larger industry changes from small operations to larger chain hotels and restaurant the union has to adapt. We go from the craft model, the typical organizing model for AFL unions, to an industrial model, where you organize everyone who works in the hotel, not just waiters, bartenders and cooks, but the dishwashers, cleaning crews, and even the clerical workers. It takes a while for people to accept the industrial model, but when skilled waiters walk off the job and employers pull other staff to cover for them—people can see he logic of this new approach.
The book follows the major leaders: Jere Sullivan, Edgar Flore, Hugo Ernst, Ed Miller, and Jack Weinberger. Over the decades they shaped the international and took bold steps, even sending organizers to the South where wages were much lower. The culinary industry is fragile and there are many challenges, like Prohibition where serving alcohol is criminalized. It also drives the business underground and organized crime makes money and terrorizes people. The corruption is real and even when Prohibition is over, the racketeers are looking of new sources of revenue. Some cities were successful in fighting organized crime and keeping them out of union offices, but not all were able to do so.
Wars are also challenges, as was the Depression, where some unions were able to get the funds to buy food and feed their own workers and others rather than depend on soup lines. These culinary workers knew how to prepare and service food in humane ways.
Not only are they challenged by economic circumstances, but changes in employees, as women enter the workforce and are organized as cooks, as the industry expands into cafeterias and other venues. There are political tensions, as communists who were successful in organizing workers in some cities are not tolerated on the national level. Yet, strong leaders had to expel them from leadership roles, since they had the federal government looking at them. Yet, people had principals, so you might be expelled from office, but they never denied people the opportunity to work. You could go back to working the bar, cooking the food, and earning a living.
The union face hostile employers, owners who do not want to share running their business with anyone. Yet, strikes that are often widely supported are an important tool. Federal laws are also used against unions, so many minds have to be changed. After World War II, when many people’s eating habits had changed, there was more organizing of workers. As the international grew and also intervened in locals, we see growth and fewer strikes, as national leaders are able to negotiate and even get federal permission in the face to wage freezes.
Unions also expand into health care and insurance, when there are wages freezes to fight inflation. Unions invest in their people, especially when you can no longer hire chefs and their crews from Europe. We have investment in education and training. By 1948, the 40-hour week is accepted, and people get time and a half for overtime. This union embraced a diversity of workers, include Black employees. While Pullman Porters were in the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porter, another AFL union. The dining car waiters on the trains had to overcome barriers, but they affiliate with the independent Railway Brotherhoods and AFL railway unions. Unionizations means significant increasing in wages, reducing hours, and finally parity with other railway labor.
As a huge union, it had political power and supported liberal cases. Promoting advancement for working class people, included skilled crafts men and women. Learning this history is rich and helps me think about employers, federal regulation and the choices the unions have to make in our time.
Displaying 1 of 1 review