“This sends a message not just to my co-workers, but restaurant workers across the D.C. area that we all deserve the dignity, respect, and stable careers that come with a union,” said Bazaar busser Evelyn Perez.  

Several employees walked out during a lunch rush after the owners declined to voluntarily recognize their union.

Hotel workers have been picketing outside the waterfront hotel since Moon Rabbit closed in late May. The union says the boycott of the hotel they called for is now over.

The suit comes a month after a settlement between the food incubator and the National Labor Relations Board over union-busting.

The bargaining session began shortly after convocation, where students walked out in support of the strike.

The Starbucks union wave is finding success in the D.C. region.

“The idea for the company is so good and there’s a really great foundation,” says one employee. “There’s just a lot of flaws, and we feel like, by unionizing, we can help to make it something really great.”

Virginia is one of 27 states with a “right to work” law, which limits the power of labor unions. Progressives say Virginians are ready to repeal it, but some Democrats in the legislature are holding back.

“The people that I hear from — they’re willing to strike,” said Natalie Bolling, a longtime Safeway employee and a shop steward with Local 400. 

Around 150 people congregated in Columbia Heights on Saturday to elect new leaders for a District-wide union that will bring the city’s many housing activists, tenant leaders, and renters into an umbrella organization.