About us

A line of restaurant workers on a Manhattan sidewalk holding hand-lettered black signs. One reads "Mattos Hospitality: Fair Union Contract Now!" and another, in Spanish, "Mattos Hospitality: Contrato Sindical Justo ¡Ya!" — Picketing Mattos Hospitality for a first contract at Lodi, Rockefeller Center. October 2024.

A worker holds a hand-painted sign reading "Reopen Rose Lane Now!" above her head on the sidewalk outside the Park Lane Hotel. — Outside the Park Lane Hotel, Central Park South. September 2025.

RWU-STR was founded during the height of the pandemic. We are a democratic, independent union of restaurant workers and volunteers. By organizing the vast majority of workers in our sector who remain unorganized, we aim to contribute to the unionization of the restaurant sector in NYC and beyond. Together, we can take our place in the broader organized labor movement, building the collective power to confront employers, win high wages and better working conditions, and advance the interests of our class.

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1 in 100

restaurant workers belongs to a union

Down from 20% in the 1950s — the lowest rate of any sector in the economy.

24%

more per hour, for restaurant workers under a union contract

$12.32 an hour against $9.92 with no contract. Economic Policy Institute, 2014.

In the press

The Chief-LeaderRestaurant workers fired days after filing for union2025
Labor New YorkRooftop Bar Workers Were Fired Suddenly. They Blame Their Downstairs Co-Workers.2025
Labor New York‘They Just Fired Everyone.’ Staff at Hotel Bar Lose Jobs Days After Union Filing2025
DocumentedRestaurant Union Movement Dealt Another Blow2025
The New York TimesA Case Against a Top New York Restaurant Could Lower Barriers to Unions2024
PrismWorkers at Rockefeller Center restaurant vote against unionization2023
Eater NYNYC’s First Major Restaurant Union Since Covid Loses Ground After Vote2023
Labor NotesRestaurant Workers at Rockefeller Center’s Lodi Confront Union-Buster Ahead of Vote2023
The GuardianServing $66 entrees for $18 an hour: the union push at an upscale New York restaurant2023