D.C.’s Wharf InterContinental Hotel has agreed to voluntarily recognize its employees’ union after cards are checked, which will include workers from the now-shuttered Moon Rabbit restaurant, according to their bargaining agent UNITE HERE Local 25. The move comes roughly two months after the employees announced their union drive and just a day before a scheduled election through the National Labor Relations Board.

About 80 hotel workers will be a part of the union, most of whom were servers and kitchen staff of the celebrated restaurant helmed by Chef Kevin Tien.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), which operates the hotel, said in a statement that it was “pleased” with the “mutually agreeable resolution.”

“We will continue to work together in a fair and expedient bargaining process,” said the spokesperson via email. “We acknowledge and support our employees’ right to representation and look forward to successfully working together.”

Instead of an NLRB election a neutral arbitrator will count signed union authorization cards. Local 25 says the overwhelming majority of eligible workers have already signed cards.

Moon Rabbit bartender and server Wes Waterhouse believes the hotel agreed to voluntary recognition because the sudden closure created more support for their union drive, adding that hotel workers who had not previously signed cards did so after the closure.

“Every tactic that they used to try and break support only led to more people joining in the movement,” Waterhouse tells DCist/WAMU.

Local 25 and some workers allege that the hotel pressured Tien to leave the restaurant once workers filed their election petition. According to their unfair labor practice charge filed with the federal labor relations board, union organizers allege closing Moon Rabbit was “designed to intimidate employees” and interfere with their federal right to form a union. The hotel denies allegations of union-busting.

A few dozen workers and their supporters have been picketing outside the waterfront hotel to protest Moon Rabbit’s closure in late May. Waterford says that workers have continued signing union cards the entire time.

The hotel workers and Local 25 called off the picket when the hotel agreed to voluntary recognition after card check, as well as expedited contract negotiations. But workers had also demanded that the restaurant reopen, that their jobs to be reinstated, and that workers to be made whole after lost wages. A local labor group called DC Jobs With Justice created a GoFundMe to support the Moon Rabbit workers struggling to get by after losing their jobs.

An IHG spokesperson previously told DCist/WAMU that no employees had been furloughed or terminated after Moon Rabbit closed. Another full-service restaurant is expected to replace Moon Rabbit, however, it’s unclear what it will be or how long that will take. In the interim, the hotel is offering reduced food service leading to a reduction in scheduled shifts.

So far, Waterhouse hasn’t been scheduled any hours. Another former Moon Rabbit worker, Haouaou Posley, told DCist/WAMU on the first day of the picket line that she was worried about her job security.

“I just got paid today. And that is my rent for June,” she said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do after.”

Meanwhile, Tien confirmed in an interview with City Cast that he’ll be opening Moon Rabbit in another location and that he’s still scouting sites, suggesting he’s retained the rights to the restaurant concept and his recipes.

Tien was an employee of the hotel, although he was likely not union eligible because of his position. When previously asked about the union at his workplace, Tien told DCist/WAMU that he was taking the time to learn about the organizing effort as he’s never worked in a unionized establishment before.

When asked again by City Cast about unions within the restaurant industry at large, he said the industry needs a “huge overhaul,” particularly in how people are paid, but that it can’t happen overnight. “I don’t think anybody has the best way but everybody is doing the best they can without much help, unfortunately, from the local government,” said Tien.

For many, the hotel was a desirable place to work because of Tien, a young chef who’s already made a name for himself, earning a finalist nod in the James Beard Foundation Awards’ Rising Culinary Star category in 2018.

Jovi Flores is one of those people. He was a line cook at Moon Rabbit and while the hotel has still scheduled him to work, albeit fewer shifts, he says the work now is “soulless.” He says there’s no real cooking involved, especially when he compares it to the food they used to prepare. He’s relieved they’ll get their union but says he doesn’t expect to work there long — he’d love to work at Tien’s new restaurant.

Waterhouse is also still disappointed about the closure of Moon Rabbit. But he still plans on staying for whatever the next restaurant concept is. Before Moon Rabbit, the space was occupied by Kwame Onwuachi’s Afro-Caribbean restaurant Kith/Kin.

“I fought for this job because I knew that Moon Rabbit could be a restaurant [where] I could find a career,” says Waterhouse. “I’m definitely disappointed that the hotel sought to end their relationship with Kevin. It seemed like a pointless gesture to diminish our organizing effort. But, these are the cards that we’ve been dealt.”

He added: “At the end of the day, this is where I’m fighting for stability for myself, my colleagues and their families.”

Workers say their union fight was started to address workplace issues that have long plagued the restaurant industry, including workplace safety, job insecurity, and the high cost of health care. They also wanted to address issues specific to their workplace, including pay discrepancies and lack of tip transparency.

A successful union drive is a rarity in the restaurant industry — there are very few unionized restaurants in D.C. In fact, a few workers are weighing whether to throw a party to celebrate.

“When hospitality workers stand up for their rights and organize together, we win,” said Paul Schwalb, Executive-Secretary Treasurer of Local 25 in a statement. “Workers at the former Moon Rabbit restaurant and InterContinental on the Wharf are about to become the newest members of our union and are on a pathway to reaping the benefits of one of the strongest hotel workers’ contracts in the country.”