Rascal receives solicitation from suspicious email after Tabletop union declares potential strike

On October 28, Tabletop Worker’s United, which represents employees at five of the largest board game cafes in New York City, announced their intention to strike if an agreement is not met soon. In the days following this announcement, a Rascal reporter was solicited by someone called Mark Smith, asking for a $500 donation to a hardship fund—however, a spokesperson for the union stated that there is no Union member named Mark Smith and the associated email, patriotsmith1969@gmail.com, is not on any of their supporter lists.

Upon further investigation, the email patriotsmith1969@gmail.com was registered in connection to another email: rossfreeman@gmail.com. Brooklyn Strategist owner Jon Freeman did not respond to a request for comment regarding any knowledge of an email using his brother Ross Freeman’s name acting in this capacity.

The initial email, sent on October 30, was sent to the reporter’s personal email address, requesting a “big impactful donation” and “who better than” the reporter to do so. The Rascal reporter immediately responded and denied the request, stating that it is against journalistic ethics for a reporter to make such a donation, as it might be construed as bias or as compensating sources for access. The individual claiming to be Smith stated they “didn’t think of that,” before going on to claim an ambiguous “we” was concerned about loss of wages and that they were unsure what a union would do for employees, “if anything,” when it came time for striking employees to pay bills. For clarity, two community strike funds have raised over $7,000 total, and the Workers United umbrella organization has a similar fund. “Smith” ended this initial response reiterating that the reporter could “always donate anonymously,” which would still be a violation of journalistic ethics. 

In the following back and forth, “Smith” stated that the union “is not much help,” and that they thought “the union would make things better.” When asked if they had been communicating with other workers about these concerns, “Smith” stated “some of us are getting frustrated and scared, and there have been conversations that perhaps this was all a huge mistake.” When asked, “Smith” would not answer questions regarding his union membership status or which store he was allegedly an employee of, stating that they were afraid of retaliation because the reporter was “tight with some of the folks [in the union].” This reporter does not have a personal or professional relationship with any member of the union beyond journalistic protocol. 

When asked if they would like to do an interview under anonymity, or connect this reporter with other members who allegedly have similar concerns, “Smith” did not reply. A union representative denied having any member or community contact by the name of Mark Smith or using the email address patriotsmith1969@gmail.com. 

The strike announcement and this corresponding email exchange came after the union and Hex&Co ownership returned to the bargaining table. According to a statement from the union, “The strike will be authorized if tentative agreements are not reached on five priority areas.” Among those priorities are scheduling, jurisdiction, internal promotions, gender identity and disability accommodations, “as well as the establishment of a pathway towards full contract settlement including economic demands.”