Tabletop Workers Union protest alleged union-busting from Hex&Co management
Nothing says Happy Labor Day like filing nine charges with the National Labor Relations Board
On Saturday, August 31—the first day of Labor Day weekend in the United States—workers at all three Hex&Co locations initiated a walk out and picket in response to management’s alleged union-busting activities. “Ownership has consistently retaliated against workers for exercising their rights,” a press release from Tabletop Workers United stated. “Including implementing unilateral policy changes that lead to increased write-ups and discipline, as well as bullying workers during negotiations.” Hex&Co management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last fall, over 100 employees of the three New York City-based board game cafes formed Tabletop Workers United. For the last seven months, workers have been enduring a long and difficult negotiation process with joint owners Jon Freeman and Gregory May, who also independently own The Uncommons and the Brooklyn Strategist. (Workers at The Uncommons and the Brooklyn Strategist are part of TWU but did not organize walk outs at their locations.) Freeman and May’s legal representative, Andrew Hoffman, has been largely antagonistic to the union’s efforts, allegedly calling the demands of Tabletop Worker’s United (which include advanced scheduling notice, employee support programs, and safer working conditions) to be “the absolute insanity of the woke,” telling employees to “go to hell,” and taking extended gaps between in-person negotiating sessions to spend the summer at his beach house.
In collaboration with Workers United NY/NJ, Tabletop Workers United has submitted nine Unfair Labor Practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board since December 2023, which include 17 allegations of “threats, interrogation, discriminatory enforcement of work rules and retaliation.” Hex&Co management did not respond immediately to a request for comment. According to legal filings provided to Rascal, the charges that spurred this weekend’s walk out span from November 8, 2023 to Jan 24, 2024 and paint a clear picture of the alleged anti-union efforts on behalf of management.
