Macaroni employees try to unionize

Jenny Marder

On the brink of losing their health benefits, Macaroni Grill

employees in Huntington Beach are trying to form the United Servers

Union.

Employees decided to form a union after the Macaroni Grill

announced plans to drastically scale back its employee benefit

package as of Jan. 1, said Dan Rozak, one of the servers at the

restaurant spearheading the effort. Employees who work 25 hours per

week and receive full medical, dental and vision coverage will be

required to work 10 more hours to receive the same package.

“Our plan is to hopefully get our benefits back and to have a

stronger collective bargaining voice,” Rozak saidOn Aug. 7, Rozak and

fellow server Cory McCune filed a petition with the National Labor

Relations Board after collecting the needed 30% of employee

signatures. Now, the decision is in the federal agency’s hands.

The labor board’s regional director for Orange County will make a

decision by the end of September, said James Small, assistant

regional director of the national labor relations board.

“The group would have to exist for purposes of collective

bargaining and representing employees for purposes of negotiating

over wages, hours or working conditions,” said Small.

If approved by the labor board, the union must then be approved by

a majority of its potential members in an election administered by

the labor relations board.

Rozak, a manager there for four years, feels that management is

trying to discredit the workers argument and sabotage their attempt

to organize.

“They’re trying to blindside us,” Rozak said. “We’re just two

servers trying to protect our own.”

The formation of a union is not in the best interest of employees,

managers say.

“Obviously, we respect their opinion and their right to do that,

but we would certainly be opposed to formation of a union in our

restaurant,” said Louis Adams, spokesman for the Macaroni Grill. “We

believe that we provide a very strong and positive environment, and

we believe that we do a good enough job addressing employee needs and

concerns. It would not be in the best interest of our employees to

have a third party come in and manage our own team.”

The turnover rate at the Surf City eatery is low and the pay is

higher than the industry norm, Adams added.

“Our track record speaks for itself,” he said.

Part-time employees will still have some benefits available to

them under the new plan and management will work to accommodate those

who need more hours to qualify for full coverage, Adams said.

“There are not enough hours in a work week to work 35 hours,” said

Rozak. Shifts are five hours long at most and employees are

prohibited from working double shifts, Rozak said.

Rozak hopes to expand the union beyond Huntington Beach and one

day dictate policy for every Macaroni Grill in the state.

“The more people we have, the better,” Rozak said. “We know

support is very strong in the restaurant. The cooks in the backhouse

are very, very supportive.

“If a vote is actually allowed, we will win,” he said.