The first Café Cerés opened up in the Linden Hills neighborhood in Southwest Minneapolis, where upscale restaurants, cafés, and shops are a short walk away from the historic Chain of Lakes. Photo by Amie Stager.
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Mariam Karkache has worked as a barista for over six years at different establishments in Minneapolis. Her current job as a barista lead at Café Cerés at the Linden Hills location became her first unionized position on August 3, when 30 workers across four locations voted 88% in favor of joining UNITE HERE Local 17.
“We were all so happy to finally get to that moment and be a part of labor history,” says Karkache, who started working at Café Cerés a year and a half ago. She says after working in the restaurant industry for 10 years, she has seen how workers experience exploitation and a lack of protections around safety and harassment.
“I’ve seen little-to-no action from management to actually fix those things,” she says. Karkache is no stranger to injustice in the food service industry world. She had allegedly been the victim of wage theft that led to her filing a lawsuit against her former employer Penny’s Coffee in 2023, which was co-owned by U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips and closed down in 2022.
Café Cerés, which operates in two former Penny’s Coffee locations, is owned by Daniel del Prado, the founder of DDP Restaurant Group. His company also owns the restaurants Colita, Cardamom in the Walker Art Center, Rosalia Pizzeria, Flora Room, Porzana, Martina, and others. According to Twin Cities Business, del Prado’s restaurant empire generates almost $40 million in revenue each year. Workers at Colita also voted in a union election in August, but according to Local 17, they are still waiting on the results due to the employer challenging some of the ballots.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, union membership rates in the food service industry in the U.S. dropped from 3.6% in 2022 to 3.2% in 2023. But labor organizing in Minneapolis has been growing in strength and visibility in recent years, supported by the Minnesota Model of community activism and social movement solidarity that has been winning economic and legislative gains for working people.
There is a history of brewery workers across the U.S. and in Minnesota forming unions, and recent years have seen an organizing wave in craft breweries. Hotel and restaurant workers in the hospitality industry also have a history of forming unions. “A lot of people just don’t realize that unions could be something that you can bring to your workplace and would be beneficial,” says Karkache. “With Café Cerés, people are seeing that restaurants and cafes outside of hotels can also unionize.”
In Minneapolis, workers at Indeed Brewing Company also won union recognition from their employer with Local 17 in April. It’s almost been a year since workers at First Avenue won union recognition with Local 17 and they are currently negotiating their first contract. Many of these successful union drives have been a collaborative effort with the Restaurant Opportunities Center of Minnesota (ROC-MN). Other unions and worker organizations including Local 17 and ROC-MN have also been collectively pushing the city of Minneapolis to establish a labor standards advisory board that would serve as a forum for employees and employers to advise on workplace regulations.
Workers at Kim’s restaurant also voted 65% in favor of unionizing on June 27. James Beard award-winning chef Ann Kim founded Vestalia Hospitality, which also owns Young Joni, Pizzeria Lola, and Hello Pizza. However, at the first bargaining meeting on August 22, Vestalia announced that Kim’s would be closing on August 30 due to “financial losses.” Because workers organized a union, Kim’s is legally required to negotiate with workers about the closure. Local 17 is demanding recall rights for laid-off workers to be hired at other Vestalia restaurants, including any future restaurant that may open in the former Kim’s space. On September 9, Local 17 filed federal unfair labor practice (ULP) charges against Kim’s and Vestalia alleging anti-union behavior and unilateral changes.
“Why did the company close Kim’s before we’d even had a chance to share our bargaining proposals?” said Kim’s back-of-house supervisor Alice Kolder in a press release from Local 17. “If the closure isn’t about busting the union or punishing union supporters, there’s no excuse not to hire us at Young Joni, Pizzeria Lola, or Hello Pizza or put us on preferential hiring lists until spots open up.”
Karkache says that she was previously not aware of UNITE HERE’s representation of workers in the service industry who are traditionally overlooked and disrespected until her coworkers introduced her to the union. She learned about the historic and militant labor struggles that have taken place in Minneapolis in which workers fought to improve material conditions for the working class.
Labor historian Peter Rachleff told Racket that it is not surprising that hospitality workers are again playing an integral role behind the new energy in the labor movement. On September 5, workers picketed at Marquette Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, and over 10,000 hotel workers with UNITE HERE locals in cities across the U.S. went on strike over Labor Day weekend to demand higher wages and fair workloads.
After the union drive at Café Cerés went public, customers began sharing their own labor organizing stories with the baristas. “It was really nice hearing people coming in and talking to us about it and showing their support and writing little notes,” says Karkache. “There’s a reason why people don’t make coffee at home. They come to us because we’re the ones with the skill.”
Karkache is looking forward to asking for better pay and scheduled raises, as well as improved procedures on disciplinary actions around harassment. She says she faces difficulty supporting her living conditions on a wage of $22 an hour. She currently lives in a one bedroom apartment and is supporting her father. She needs a new car, but can’t afford it. “I do enjoy my job, but I feel that I’m not fairly compensated for the work that I do,” she says. “I would appreciate making enough to support myself and support anything that may happen in the future.”
She says she is planning on being on the bargaining team to negotiate a contract with her employer.
“I know I’m well within my rights to unionize my workplace. I know my worth. I hope that other service industry workers in the Twin Cities have felt empowered by this new wave of labor organizing that’s been going on.”