PHILADELPHIA—At Board and Brew, a restaurant and board game cafe, workers are rallying to ratify a contract that fairly compensates them for their labor. On Saturday, August 22, workers spoke to a crowd of supporters candidly about their union campaign so far and what they’re fighting for.
Glaive, who has worked at Board and Brew for about a year and a half, said, “On my very first day here… I could tell people were frustrated with their conditions.” She recalled her first staff night where she heard new coworkers talking about how badly they wanted a union.
Throughout the speeches from various workers—including some who chose to come speak to the crowd on their 15-minute break—workers shared the Board and Brew bosses’ excuses. One worker was told that “servers don’t get raises.” Another was told they’ve “reached the limit of what they can be paid.” Others emphasized that because they are tipped employees, the boss is able to pass the buck of their wages to the customers.
Speaking to People’s World, another worker, Ella, shared that the boss’s rationale seems to be that “because we are tipped workers, the idea is that we generate our own raises.” Throughout the rally, workers all shared stories illustrating the ways in which the staff is overworked, demobilized, and struggling to live paycheck to paycheck.
However, the rally also had a strong sense of solidarity and excitement that the workers are on the brink of winning something major through their collaboration.
When the workers demanded recognition back at the beginning of the unionization effort in January 2026, Board and Brew voluntarily recognized them within three hours. The employees are now 6 months from their first bargaining date and pushing closer by the day to winning their first contract.
Many workers emphasized Workers United’s role in turning their ideas into reality. “We didn’t know how to make it happen at the time, but when we affiliated with Workers United, we got the tools we needed to build a real campaign,” explained Glaive.
Ella described the support that was provided once the connection was made to Workers United, and the realization that “there’s already an infrastructure for this.” Continuing, “so I really do have to thank Local 80 for that leg up that we had because I wouldn’t have known where to start from scratch, but this was a great foundation to build on.”
Another point of emphasis was the importance of unionization efforts within the service industry and the power of efforts like the Starbucks Workers United campaign, which have reinvigorated parts of the labor movement that have long been underestimated. “Restaurant workers in this city have gone too long with no union representation, and that ends now. When we win this contract, that is not the end of this campaign. That will be the beginning of a new set of standards.”
When asked if there was anything else she’d like to share with People’s World, Ella said: “workers’ rights are trans rights and queer rights!”
Reflecting on his experience at the rally, Derek, a member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA), said the following: “No one is free until everyone is free. We must continue to show our support and solidarity anyway we can with the queer working class. Speaking to others about their expenses, looking into unions such as Local 80 and seeing how we can all help or join and continue to raise the voices of our LGBTQIA workers.”
From the discussion of organizing the unorganized, particularly in new industries, to the sentiments of workers at the rally, the event brought a spark towards the future of the labor movement, one that many argued is tied to fights for dignity for all working people—across lines of race, nationality, gender, sexuality, ability.
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