Don’t Insult Union Labor

S. Irene Virbila’s gratuitous insult of union waiters in “Corporate Cuisine” (Restaurants, Sept. 15) is even less appetizing than the beef carpaccio she tasted at Bice. Our union lost 43 members on Sept. 11, 2001. They were working at Windows on the World, a restaurant known internationally for its extraordinary service as well as its menu and vistas. To suggest that they, and union servers in general, were and are “without a shred of interest in the restaurant or the business” betrays both bias and ignorance on Virbila’s part. Assuming her criticism of the service at Bice is accurate, I’d say a union is just what those waiters need.

David Koff

Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union

Los Angeles