Restaurant Workers United (RWU) is a labor union that seeks to organize restaurant, bar, and cafe workers across the United States, with a focus on small establishments. ^{1 2}

Background

Restaurant Workers United started in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic RWU, however, operates as a labor union rather than an advocacy campaign. ^{3 1 2} The union operates under a loosely organized structure and allows members to join and pay dues online, either as an individual “industry member” to support union organizing or as a “working member” once they confirm they are working under a union contract at a restaurant. ⁴

Activities

Restaurant Workers United has engaged in organizing campaigns at small, independent restaurants, providing training, petitions, and support for workers seeking union recognition. In 2022, the group organized its first restaurants in the southern U.S. at Via 313 in Austin, Texas, and Pizza Lupo in Louisville, Kentucky, where workers voted to unionize. ⁵

In Seattle, the union assisted workers at Glo’s Diner in achieving voluntary recognition in April 2023, marking what organizers described as the first full-service restaurant union in the city in decades. Diner employees supportive of unionization called RWU a “small, democratic, and militant union” during the unionization process. ^{6 7} In September 2023, workers at the diner voted to decertify the union. The decertification left the union with only two unionized restaurant locations listed publicly on its website. ^{8 5}

The union reported less than $5,000 in revenues in 2024 and $9,500 in assets. The largest local chapter of the union is Asheville Food and Beverage United, which, while reporting only $4,400 in 2024 dues, received $27,000 in “other receipts.” ⁹

1. Henderson, Catherine. “As unemployment benefits expire, Colorado restaurant workers are taking to the streets to demand support.” The Denver Post. July 23, 2020. Accessed March 16, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20200817063552/https://theknow.denverpost.com/2020/07/23/restaurant-workers-united-protest-denver/242252/
2. Bonilla Ramos, Arvelisse. “Wages increased for restaurant and hotel staff post-pandemic.” The Invisible Hand, May 23, 2023. https://bizeconreporting.journalism.cuny.edu/2023/05/23/wages-increased-for-restaurant-and-hotel-staff-post-pandemic/.
3. “About Our Union.” Restaurant Workers United. Accessed March 13, 2026. https://www.restaurantworkersunited.org/our-union.
4. “Dues.” Restaurant Workers United. Accessed March 31, 2026. https://www.restaurantworkersunited.org/dues.
5. “2022 Year in Review.” Restaurant Workers United. Accessed March 16, 2026. https://www.restaurantworkersunited.org/posts/2022-year-in-review
6. Varriano, Jackie. “Glo’s Cafe reopens — as Seattle’s first full-service restaurant to unionize in decades.” Seattle Times. May 18, 2023. Accessed March 13, 2026. https://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/glos-cafe-reopens-as-seattles-first-full-service-restaurant-to-unionize-in-decades
7. Case, Sean. “Unionizing a Beloved Restaurant.” Seattle Democratic Socialists of America. https://seattledsa.org/2023/06/unionizing-glos/
8. Hill, Taylor Blatchford. “Workers vote to remove union at Capitol Hill’s Glo’s Diner.” Capitol Hill Seattle Blog. November 3, 2023. Accessed March 13, 2026. https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2023/11/workers-vote-to-remove-union-at-capitol-hills-glos-diner.
9. “ASHEVILLE FOOD & BEVERAGE UNITED: Form LM-3.” Department of Labor. Accessed March 16, 2026. https://olmsapps.dol.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=914525&rptForm=LM3Form