The Glo’s crew and what we presume is a “negotiating table” — now organized (Image: Restaurant Workers United)

Opening… soon

When it opens in May in its spacious new home above Capitol Hill Station on the edge of the AIDS Memorial Pathway plaza, Glo’s will be a new place. There will be loads more room for customers and espresso and breakfast cocktail service.

And its workers will be unionized, organized together to improve pay, benefits, and working conditions.

“There are ideas about how our workplace can improve,” cook and organizer Sean Case tells CHS. “We believed we were the people to decide that.”

Restaurant Workers United, a worker-led union for restaurant, bar, and cafe workers, announced this week that Glo’s ownership voluntarily recognized the unionization effort, “forming the first independent restaurant union in Seattle in several decades.”

Case said employees at the now 37-year-old diner value and respect Glo’s and that the conventional wisdom pitting ownership vs. workers needs to wither away.

“We all love Glo’s — but anyone knows the industry has serious problems. People are underpaid, the work is on hard on the body, tons of exploitation.”

Glo’s owners Julie Reisman and Steve Frias said in a statement to CHS that they hope to “set an example for other small business owners (particularly other restaurant owners) of how to create a more cohesive and fairer environment to work in for both management and staff.”

“Glo’s ownership has always been a strong advocate for social justice, fairness in the workplace, and cultivating a culture of acceptance, appreciation, and hard work,” they write. “Work, particularly for the restaurant industry since the start of the pandemic, has been sketchy at best. A lot is asked of restaurant workers by their bosses, and not all bosses are sympathetic to or understanding of the position their workers have been in.”

Reisman and Frias said “there is a lot of rhetoric out in the world” pitting workforces against ownership.

“We believe we have a unique opportunity to prove that unionization can be a useful tool for promoting a more positive and successful operation, with both management/ownership and staff coming together to agree on common goals and structure within a capitalist environment,” the Glo’s owners said.

For Case, organizing a disparate set of restaurant workers with experience ranging from two to thirteen years of employment at Glo’s “came together naturally.” The energy of younger workers definitely helped but Case said the group found plenty of common ground. Seeing examples of other local organizing at Homegrown Cafe also inspired the Glo’s team, he said, as did a nationwide surge in union activity including efforts to organize the workforce of coffee giant Starbucks.

“It is a historic moment in Seattle and nationally,” Case said, but in the end, the decision to organize Glo’s was about making their jobs and the restaurant better.

Glo’s, meanwhile, is about to reopen in its new home. CHS reported here in August 2021 on the plans for the beloved diner to spread out from its 830 square feet on E Olive Way to a new 2,900-square-foot home just off Broadway above the busy light rail station. The arrival of 1987 founder Gloreen Raineri’s tiny, long-lived cafe in the middle of a busy new complex is a major leap for Reisman, Frias and the cafe that she said came with a lot of help and goodwill for Glo’s including developer Gerding Edlen’s efforts to bring smaller and more local tenants with a “great deal on rent” and assistance building out the new space. Glo’s also launched a fundraising campaign for people to donate to the cause. Big givers will be some of the first in the door but after that, Reisman tells CHS, “we will be back to our normal model of first come first serve.”

The E Olive Way Glo’s original has been closed since a damaging fire last summer.

The brunch line starts here

With the union recognition sealed up, there is still much work to be done as the sides must pound out agreements and a contract.

“Unionizing just felt natural with how invested and engaged we are as workers,” cook Kane Manning said in a statement from the union. “We are excited to enter the next era of Glo’s as a union, and look forward to meeting at the bargaining table.”

Glo’s owners said they don’t expect arriving at a deal will be difficult because they have “employed thoughtful practices for over a decade at Glo’s” including flexible scheduling “so work does not take over our employees’ lives,” strong wages, an inclusive and non-discriminatory work environment, and strong benefits.

Case said he hopes examples like organizing at Glo’s inspires others in Seattle to know employees and ownership “can all work together” to make improvements.

There is a celebration planned when Glo’s workers will hold a rally Sunday, May 7 at 12 PM in Cal Anderson Park. Case said the rally is part of showing workers at other restaurants and bars the power of organizing. And to give the growing Glo’s workforce a chance to get together before the new diner debuts.

“We want to celebrate and are pretty proud,” Case said. “We are also doubling the staff so want to bring new coworkers in to celebrate with us.”

And then it will be time to get down to business. Reisman said Glo’s is currently targeting a May 15th grand opening.

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