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Union launches drive to save Tavern on the Green jobs

Local 6 President Michael Simo leading almost 700 Hotel Trades Council members on a Central Park march from Tavern on the Green to the Boathouse.

If anyone thinks that Tavern on the Green has thrived for decades based solely on reputation, they are wrong. The major source of Tavern on the Green's historic success is the restaurant's employees, who were joined by fellow NY Hotel Trades Council members in a rally on September 25th that was an impressive display of union solidarity.

Tavern on the Green employee Ramon Rodriguez

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The purpose of the rally was to draw attention to events at the legendary Central Park restaurant and banquet hall. With the current Tavern on the Green owner's lease set to expire on December 31 of this year, the 400 employees there are quite concerned about their future.

As we reported in last week's Hotel Voice, the city's Parks Department earlier this year awarded exclusive negotiation rights on a new lease to Dean Poll, the owner of the Boathouse, another Central Park restaurant. Mr. Poll then turned around and issued a series of giveback demands that are an insult to every Tavern worker as well as every other member of our Union.

Poll's demands include the elimination of many of the Union jobs in the restaurant. He wants to scrap seniority and scheduling rights, and he wants to pay new employees the minimum wage. He wants to pay the banquet staff a flat hourly rate. He wants to take away overtime pay, as well as holidays and vacations that veteran Tavern employees have earned over the years.

"I stopped counting at 20," one Tavern worker said, regarding the number of giveback demands Poll has made. "I'm outraged to think that he would think our Union would even consider such unreasonable proposals. "Hotel Trades Council President Peter Ward agrees. Ward told the New York Times that Poll's demands were an "atrocity. " He expressed similar opinions to two television stations this week.

Tavern on the Green employee Wendy Baranello

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In response to Poll's outrageous demands, the Union decided to hold the September 25 rally in front of Tavern on the Green. There, Tavern workers were joined by hundreds of other Hotel Trades Council members. Collectively, they made Tavern on the Green a sea of blue, due to the "Save the Tavern" tee-shirts that were distributed to everyone that attended.

The rally featured a number of Tavern employees who spoke up in response to Poll's demands. Local 6 President Michael Simo, himself a former Tavern employee, rallied the crowd with promises that the Union would not rest until the Tavern workers were treated fairly.

Wendy Baranello, an employee of Tavern for more than 30 years, also spoke. She noted the contrast in conditions at Tavern before and after the Union came in. The "before" was an indisputable sweatshop. The "after," according to Baranello, was every worker's dream.

"With the Hotel Trades Council everything changed," she said. "We could have the American dream; earn a good wage to send our children to school, buy homes, and have family health care so we didn't have to worry about illness. "

She continued, "Now, Dean Poll wants to take this away from us. But we're not going back there. There's no way. Twenty years ago I was on that picket line with many of the Tavern workers who are here today. We have become seasoned and we have the experience, and will fight as hard again. We will strike again. We will do whatever it takes to protect our Union contract and therefore our lives. We are not rich like Dean Poll, but we are hard working New Yorkers and we are tough. With the guidance of the Hotel Trades Council, we fought for ourselves and each other in 1989 and we will do so again!"

The crowd robustly cheered Baranello's remarks and robustly cheered again when Michael Rizzo spoke. Rizzo, a 28-year veteran of Tavern on the Green, saluted the health care he received as a result of the Union. "I needed a heart bypass that cost well over a hundred thousand dollars," Rizzo told the crowd. "But because of the Union the only thing I paid for was the television set in my hospital room. "

New York City’s next Public Advocate, Bill de Blasio

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Ramon Rodriguez, a banquet employee with 20 years on the job at Tavern, also spoke at the rally. He has three children who would like to go to college but whose educations are now jeopardized. "Poll's demands threaten my entire family," Rodriguez said, "and I will do whatever is necessary to protect our Union contract. "

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer appeared at the rally and didn't mince words. "You can't serve a $20 salad and expect to take away the pension of the person serving it," Stringer said. He added that Manhattan needs the kind of good jobs that the Union contract created at Tavern.

Bill de Blasio, who was facing a run off vote for Public Advocate on September 29, took time off from his busy campaign schedule to attend the rally.

"No government agency should be involved in any process that would deny the Tavern employees the wages, benefits and work conditions they have worked so hard to gain over the years," de Blasio said. "I want to assure all of you that the Tavern workers have my full support!"

Following the rally at Tavern, hundreds of members had a spirited march across Central Park to the Boathouse, a non-union restaurant operated by Poll. "The startled looks on the faces of the Boathouse patrons and the scurrying of managers in all directions were empowering," said JimWetzel, a Local 6 Business Agent who worked at Tavern on the Green for more than 20 years and who served as emcee of the rally.

After a show of force at the Boathouse, members returned to their jobs at Tavern and elsewhere. One Tavern employee asked Hotel Voice to "make sure all the members from all the other shops are aware of how grateful we are for their strong show of support. " We are only too glad to pass along that heartfelt expression of appreciation.

With the lease at Tavern on the Green not due to expire until December 31, the battle over the Union contract there is sure to continue for a while. But as the rally last week clearly indicated, the outcome of this battle is not in doubt. "We will do whatever it takes to win," Tavern employee Wendy Baranello told the crowd that day. Indeed we will.

Following the rally members marched to the Boathouse, another Central Park restaurant operated by Dean Poll.