Union Busting in Buffalo Continues — But Restaurant Workers Are Fighting Back

The past few years have seen a wave of unionization among U.S. food service workers, most notably at Starbucks, where Starbucks Workers United has organized nearly 500 stores.

The Starbucks union drive, which went public in August 2021, was born in Buffalo, New York. Locally, other workers inspired by the Starbucks campaign, as well as the earlier SPoT Coffee union drive, went on to organize new Buffalo workplaces ranging from the Lexington Co-op to Remedy House.

Some of these campaigns have faced intense union busting. Workers at Buffalo’s Tesla plant confronted anti-union actions and firings when they tried to unionize, and baristas at unionized Starbucks stores across Buffalo fought back against employer retaliation for years.

But there’s one new Buffalo union that has faced an almost unparalleled level of retaliation, workers say.

Last fall, Truthout reported on the union drive at Elmwood Taco and Subs (ETS), a popular food shop in the heart of Buffalo’s Elmwood Village, located directly next to the first unionized Starbucks store. In November, ETS workers won their union in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) vote by a 10 to 4 margin.

But since then, the union says it has faced nothing but retaliation, union busting and bad faith bargaining. In July, the NLRB found merit in dozens of unfair labor practice charges filed by the union, including that an owner revved up and sped his truck at a picketer. Shockingly, one of the ETS owners is married to a Democratic county legislator who has previously received labor endorsements.

“These owners are probably the worst people I have dealt with in 49 years,” veteran labor organizer Richard Bensinger told Truthout.

The intensity of the retaliation has posed challenges for the union, but members remain hopeful that, through building community pressure, they can achieve some accountability and justice.

“If people even remotely care about workers’ rights, then they should not be going to ETS,” said Casey Moore, an organizer with Workers United. “People should not spend money at this company, and they should boycott them 100 percent until they stop union busting and bargain a contract in good faith.”

“The Most Vicious Union-Busting Campaign”

ETS workers had high hopes when they won their union last fall after a quick but tense union drive. They looked forward to bargaining a contract that would guarantee fairer pay and scheduling and more voice and respect on the job.

But almost immediately, the union says, ETS owners launched an aggressive campaign of retaliation.

Union supporters saw their hours cut. Violet Seguin, an ETS worker who helped start the union, says she went from working 38 hours a week to just five. She was also demoted from her role as a shift supervisor and suffered a wage cut.

“It was hard trying to figure out what to do for money and rent,” she said. “I eventually had to get a second job.”

The owners brought in family friends to work at ETS, workers told Truthout, and they stepped up intimidation tactics by installing voice recording cameras and showing up nearly every day to close the shop to hover over workers.

Seguin said the owners almost never helped close the shop before workers unionized. “We were very scared that one mistake would happen and we would get fired,” she said.

Truthout reached out to ETS for comment but did not receive a response.

Moore was a barista who helped organize the first Starbucks store next to ETS. Now she’s supporting the ETS union as an organizer with Workers United.

“They’ve just faced the most vicious union-busting campaign,” said Moore. “I don’t know if it’s surpassed Starbucks-level union busting, but it’s equally as bad, if not worse.”

“Boycott ETS!”

In early December 2023, barely a week after the union vote, ETS workers went out on strike, citing a range of unfair labor practices.

“We were on strike because our hours were cut so badly,” said Seguin.

In February 2024, seeing no progress, the union called for a community boycott of ETS, which is still ongoing.

ETS workers say that support from the labor community has been strong. This summer, several University at Buffalo Graduate Student Employees Union (GSEU) members turned out for a boycott picket at ETS. GSEU President Joey Sechrist told Truthout that it was important for the union to come out and support ETS workers.

“The company has been doing everything in their power to union bust, cutting workers hours, engaging in unfair labor practices, to effectively stamp out the union,” said Sechrist.

ETS worker Ash Shanahan says other workers on Elmwood Avenue have been supportive, while Seguin says that visitors to Buffalo for the April 8 solar eclipse expressed sympathy. “It’s been really nice having the community be supportive of the boycott and not going to ETS,” said Seguin.

Seguin also noted with laughter that the “pothole bandit” — a secretive prankster who goes around Buffalo filling potholes with artwork — etched “Union Strong” into the sidewalk in front of ETS.

“Proven to Be Union Busters”

ETS workers were vindicated in July when the National Labor Relations Board found merit in dozens of the charges that the union filed from October 2023 through January 2024, as first reported by the Buffalo News.

These included 21 “unlawful coercive conduct” charges ranging from “interrogating an employee about their union activity” to “threatening employee benefits in response to union activity,” as well as 10 charges of “unlawful retaliation” that included “cutting the hours of employees in response to union activity” and “establishing a more demanding time and attendance policy in response to union activity.”

There were also seven “unlawful bargaining violations” that included “demoting employees” and “unilaterally cutting the wages of employees,” both without notifying the union or providing an opportunity to bargain over the decisions.

One of the most egregious NLRB determinations was that ETS owner Ron Lucchino engaged in “unlawful coercive conduct” when he revved and sped up his truck “aiming at a picketer while pulling into the ETS parking lot.”

After the picketer “had to suddenly move out of the way to avoid being hit by the truck,” Lucchino continued into the parking lot, saw employees picketing the drive-thru area, and “sped towards [employees picketing the drive-thru area] in his truck, and aimed his truck at the picketers in order to intimidate them.”

With the merit determinations, the union is hoping that ETS owners will be held accountable for their unlawful behavior. For workers, the NLRB findings also offer some vindication.

“They were proven to be union busters,” said Seguin.

“They Pushed Everybody Out”

Meanwhile, the union says ETS owners have been bargaining in extremely bad faith since late 2023, with no real desire to come to an agreement.

“We have been trying to bargain,” says Moore, “but we haven’t even remotely made any progress.”

Shanahan described a range of delay tactics by ETS owners. “They ask a billion questions just to waste time,” she said. “They filibuster throughout the whole thing.”

Meanwhile, the union says that ETS owners have been effectively forcing out union supporters. Union leaders like Seguin and Shanahan left ETS this summer, feeling like they had no other option because of the reduced hours and intense stress on the job.

“They pushed everybody out,” says Seguin.

Moore says the union has filed constructive discharge cases with the NLRB, arguing that ETS made working conditions so intolerable that workers had little choice but to leave. Constructive discharge happens when, instead of directly firing a worker, an employer creates working conditions so intolerable that the worker is effectively compelled to quit.

For the union, the owners’ goal seems clear: absorb any NLRB rulings while forcing out pro-union workers and moving toward a decertification vote later this year.

“They’re not actually coming to the bargaining table in good faith because their goal is to crush the union,” said Moore.

Workers United is hoping that mounting pressure from the NLRB, community and labor movement will help win justice for ETS workers and hold ETS owners to account. They and many other unions have also expressed support for the PRO Act, which would strengthen workers’ rights and weaken the ability of employers to bust unions and stall in bargaining.

Labor-Endorsed Democrat Married to Union-Busting Owner

ETS is owned by the Lucchino family, which also has extensive property holdings across Buffalo, including the bulk of the trendy Elmwood Avenue block where ETS is located. Jackie Kooshoian and Mike Lucchino, the children of Ron Lucchino, who opened the store in 1975, now oversee ETS.

But there’s a twist to the ETS story: Jackie Kooshoian’s husband is Michael Kooshoian, an Erie County legislator since 2022.

Kooshoian is a Democrat. In 2023, he was endorsed by the Buffalo Central Labor Council and the Western New York Area Labor Federation, and he appeared in photos with Buffalo labor leaders shortly before the ETS union drive went public.

“Buffalo is a union town” is a common local maxim. So the ETS union is drawing attention to the fact that a labor-endorsed county official is, they say, personally tied to and benefiting from a company engaged in intense union busting.

“His family profits from this restaurant,” said Moore. “He has billed himself as a pro-labor Democrat. It’s very hypocritical.”

Peter De Jesús Jr., president of the Western New York Area Labor Federation (WNY ALF), told Truthout that “the situation at Elmwood Taco and Subs, and the involvement of Erie County Legislator Michael Kooshoian’s family in the anti-union activities, is deeply troubling,” adding that the recent NLRB merit determinations against ETS “underscore the severity of this issue.”

The WNY ALF, which represents 165 unions with 140,000 members across the region, previously endorsed Kooshoian. De Jesús Jr. says they’ve urged him “to address the actions of his family’s business” and that they’re “actively reviewing the situation and will take appropriate action based on our values for future endorsements.”

“It is clear that any endorsement from the labor movement is contingent upon a commitment to workers’ rights and union principles,” said De Jesús Jr. “Our message is simple: There is no place for anti-union behavior in any workplace, and those who support such actions will not receive our endorsement. The labor movement stands with the workers at ETS.”

Truthout reached out to Legislator Kooshoian for comment but did not receive a response.

Organizable After All

The ETS union drive is part of a larger wave of unionization in the U.S. food service sector over the past few years.

With high turnover, small dispersed shops and weak labor laws, the industry has been difficult to organize. But several broader shifts, including the impact of COVID-19 and the influx of Gen-Z workers, had created momentum for unionization in the sector.

“There are a lot of younger workers in low-wage jobs in the service sector, and they’re deeply attracted to the idea of organizing their own workplace,” labor expert John Logan told Truthout.

The Starbucks union drive that began in 2021 is the most well-known example, but other companies, from Chipotle to the Alamo Drafthouse, have also seen union drives.

“It’s really exciting to see so many service workers organizing, because for so long people said they just weren’t organizable,” said Moore.

The food service industry has responded harshly, lobbying against workers’ rights and coordinating industry-wide responses. Starbucks racked up hundreds of labor violations against workers before ultimately succumbing to pressure and agreeing to bargain in good faith.

Logan says that union busting within the food sector is not confined to major corporations like Starbucks, and that small restaurant owners can often view unions as “a sign of disloyalty to them” and as an obstacle to their desire for total control. “It’s a very personal thing,” he said. “It’s their business, and they’re not going to hand over control to anyone else.”

“Winning Means Getting Justice for the Workers”

In light of the NLRB’s merit determinations, the union is seeking a just settlement and for ETS to be held accountable for its union busting.

“Winning means getting justice for the workers,” said Moore. “Workers have the right to organize free from all the terrible things ETS has done.”

Challenges remain for the union. There has been significant turnover since last fall, and some newer employees are now “too scared” to get involved with the union, says Seguin.

Meanwhile, workers like Shanahan and Seguin push on in support of the union, even if they’re not currently working at ETS. They view the union campaign with great pride, even if they still bear some scars from the process.

“I’m super proud that I sat at the bargaining table,” said Shanahan, “and I will continue to do my best to sit there until, hopefully, we have a contract.”

“It’s definitely a huge accomplishment,” said Seguin. “No one has done that at ETS before.”