The St. Louis workers' movement is launching a statewide campaign for a "Food Service Workers' Bill of Rights." After a win for the labor movement on a vote to unionize Alamo Drafthouse workers, food service workers plan to gather Tuesday at Chouteau Park to rally behind the effort.
The bill of rights is a 10-point platform proposing industry standards that the campaign said will make food service jobs livable as the cost of living rises. They include big-ticket items like a $25 inflation-adjusted minimum wage, employer-matched retirement plans and paid healthcare.
Bagel Union sous chef Derek Graue, who calls himself a restaurant lifer, said that he enjoys the creativity away from a desk job but that it's hard to make ends meet.
"I'm working two jobs to help get my wife through college," he said. "For a long time we tried to do it just with the money I made at Bagel (Union), and it became abundantly clear that wasn't enough."
Bagel Union workers will be voting on unionization later this week alongside workers at Union Loafers Cafe and the Station. A pressing issue driving workers toward the union campaign – and the workers' bill of rights – is paid sick leave, according to Graue.
In 2024, Missouri voters approved a ballot measure to require paid sick leave with a 58% majority. The next year, though, the legislature struck down that provision.
"As soon as that ballot measure was struck down, [Bagel Union] kind of pretended like it wasn't there," Graue said. "I can't afford to miss work, so I – multiple times – have had to go to work and just mask up and play through the pain in order to pay my bills."
Campaign organizers said the pathway to these benefits may lie at the ballot box. The campaign supports Amendment 6 and its protection of ballot initiatives. The campaign said this may clear the pathway to get paid sick leave and inflation-adjusted minimum wage back on the ballot, and make it harder for the legislature to overturn it if voters approve.
The bill of rights campaign and string of union votes in St. Louis may be responding to nationwide industry trends, according to sociologist Jake Rosenfeld, a Washington University professor who specializes in workers' movements.
He said worker activism following the pandemic leveled off wage inequality for the first time in decades. But in recent years, wage increases have stalled.
"Coupled with that, you've seen employers really begin to fight back to regain some of the power they feel like they lost in those years of worker activism," he said. "I interpret an effort such as this one to try to answer the call."
Graue said the platform represents ideals and acknowledges that progress will look different for every business. Even small changes, like employers providing uniforms and shoes, could go a long way.
"If my shoes wear out in the middle of a shift and there's a backup pair for me, that'd be awesome. I'd love to not worry about that," he said.
Graue said Bagel Union's management is generally receptive. He said the bill of rights is a change to bring benefits other trade professions enjoy to the food service industry.
Campaign supporters will rally at Chouteau Park at 1 p.m. Tuesday, then canvass establishments to enlist support from more workers. The campaign said it expects 7th Ward Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier, whose recent resolution supported Union Loafers' unionization, at the rally.
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