Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Tensions continue to flare between employees and the owners of Elmwood Taco and Subs as employees stood outside the store on Wednesday to conduct an unfair labor practice strike.
"We're going on strike because of the hour cuts as well as the harassment and bullying we're facing from our bosses. It's gotten worse," says Abel Lopez, employee and lead organizer.
Lopez used to work five days a week but upper management have cut his time to working two days a week. "We talked to them multiple times about our drastic hour changes. They've done nothing. We've been struggling to pay rent and bills. Me personally on Thanksgiving, I barely had money to get my dad food for our table on Thanksgiving. They've just been berating us with harassment, and all these unfair labor practices and it's getting really hard on us."
According to the workers, since the launch of their union effort in October, ETS has responded with a vicious union-busting strategy that has included bullying, harassing, and retaliating against workers. The workers won their union election on November 26, ETS has since ramped up their union-busting campaign tactics.
"We noticed that communication with us, the shift leaders, between us and our employers has gone down even more," notes Lopez. "There was not as much of it beforehand, but now it's like we feel like we're not being talked to as much. Whenever we're short staffed, they won't let a shift leader even call in another person to help out and that makes it harder on us during these big rushes."
"I've seen them over supervise me, they do my job for me sometimes. I was trained fully, I know how to do what I was supposed to do on every position inside," says Ash Shanahan, ETS employee. "I don't need anyone to do any aspects of it. For me, I'm always happy for the help, but they do parts of your job for you and then get upset when you don't understand when they mess up the timeline of it all. They'll work on tables and you're like, 'Okay, am I supposed to sweep and mop now? What do you want?' And it's they make it very hard to talk to them about anything."
Workers are demanding that ETS immediately restore the hours that have been cut in retaliation for their organizing efforts, immediately stop their union-busting campaign, and immediately commit to bargaining in good faith with the union.
"I think we're really hopeful that they come to the bargaining table with us to sit down and talk about this with us. I think we're just hoping for a very civil conversation with them, to be treated fairly and to be treated like the adults that we all are," said Shanahan.
Elmwood Taco and Subs have partnered with Workers United, the same labor organization who assisted in unionizing hundreds of Starbucks locations. The first unionized Starbucks sits right next door to Elmwood Taco and Subs.