After some tense weeks of picketing and negotiating, Philadelphia-based Dock Street Brewing announced it would change its service model so that front-of-house employees at its West Philadelphia location would be paid regular hourly wages, rather than relying on tips.
“One thing we’d like to remind our community is that while we may not be perfect every single day, Dock Street has always listened and acted,” Dock Street wrote on its website. “We said we’d be better and that is exactly what we are doing. We are testing a system that is rippling through the country and industry right now and hoping the shoe fits our West Philly location.”
The change was announced on social media and in an email July 20 and went into effect July 28. Other changes included a raise for back-of-house staff, access to the company’s healthcare package with Dock Street contributing a portion of the cost for both full-time and part-time employees, and the opportunity for training. The new model is funded in part by a 12% to 18% service charge added to all orders.
Not all of the employees who organized and asked for these changes have not been called back to work.
“It feels like a publicity stunt,” Dock Street West server and bartender Sarah Myers, who uses the singular they/them pronoun, told Brewbound. “A publicity stunt that has all of your workers making a living wage finally — OK, fine. But don’t think that it ends there.”
When the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hospitality industry were beginning to come into view in March, Dock Street’s locations closed for on-premise service, as did breweries, bars and restaurants across the country. Dock Street West service staff were laid off on March 16.
After Pennsylvania moved into the yellow phase of its reopening plan, permitting bars and restaurants to reopen for on-site, outdoor dining, Dock Street’s staff received an email from management on June 10 announcing a change to counter service from table service and inviting them to reapply for their jobs.
“We will be putting out a public call for staff on Friday, so please contact us as soon as you can if you are interested,” the email said. “We will be conducting interviews this week and next and using the in-person interviews to go over service and COVID protocols.”
A group of 11 employees responded to management’s email with one of their own demanding that management stop asking them to reapply, cancel the public call for applications and engage in conversations about working conditions and wages — specifically asking that staff be paid $15 per hour during the yellow reopening phase, rather than the hourly minimum wage for tipped employees of $2.83 per hour. Employees also asked for “a written contract that improves Dock Street, protects the workers and their wages, and cements our negotiating agreements” and “an equitable future for all Dock Street employees that includes continuing to organize a union with no interference.”
“We find it very concerning that you are asking us to reapply with a resume if we want to return to work at your establishment,” the employees wrote. “We have tended to relationships with regulars, have built a community amongst ourselves that uplifts and cares for one another, and have worked tirelessly to make Dock Street West what it is.
“We are tired of the repeated contradiction of telling us that we make Dock Street special but aren’t cared for [and] protected when it comes down to it,” they continued. “You talk the talk really well, now it’s time to show us that you walk the walk too.”
Management responded in a June 12 email that the reason behind the call for applications was due to social distancing standards reducing Dock Street West’s capacity from 100 patrons to “a couple dozen seats,” and so fewer employees were needed.
“Some of you were hired by previous managers and priorities and criteria have since shifted in a big way as we enter a new chapter in America and Philadelphia and Dock Street,” the email said. “Dock Street Brewery West is essentially a new restaurant at this point and it needs to be treated this way. The interview questions will help us all gauge the best way to move forward.”
Dock Street also posted several social media messages explaining its position to consumers. A post on June 14 explained that the positions available under its new counter service model were “first offered to pre-COVID staff” and that the company “has not denied available jobs or demands.”
But on June 15, another post admitted that “there are things we could have done better,” and clarified that “no outside or new applicants will be considered until positions are offered to pre-COVID staff.” In that post, Dock Street shared that employees were guaranteed at least $15 per hour and tips would be distributed among hourly workers.
When the employees’ request for negotiations was not met, the organizing workers picketed for six days starting on June 19, until management agreed to a meeting on June 30. The next day, Dock Street explained the situation for consumers on its website, but had not followed up with employees, continuing a pattern of poor communication, Myers and Dock Street West host Phoebe Funderburg-Moore said.
“After we talked about how we need to be more transparent with each other, how we need to communicate with each other better, the first word that we got from them was a public statement that was not sent to us,” Myers said.
Weeks later, Dock Street again posted online that it finalized a new service and wage model for its Dock Street West location. Front-of-house positions have been consolidated into two roles: cashier, which will be paid $17 per hour, and support staff, which will be paid $15 per hour. Tipping has been eliminated in favor of a fixed service fee added to orders.
Speaking to Brewbound on July 27, the day before Dock Street said the new service model went into effect, Myers said they and no other employees in the core organizing group to their knowledge were contacted about returning to work.
“If it boils down to us not getting our jobs back, I think that would be really disappointing because I think it would speak to a lack of acceptance of workers’ voices, or a lack of respect for workers’ voices, and a feat of having organized workers that work in your business,” Myers said. “I do think that would be a disappointment for sure, but at the same time, any other worker walking into that place is going to be treated significantly better than we were and that’s amazing, and a true testament to how much labor we put into this movement for the last few months.”
Dock Street was founded by Rosemarie Certo and Jeffrey Ware in 1985, making it one of the nation’s oldest craft breweries.
After a conversation with Dock Street management, this story was updated on August 7 to reflect that some organizing employees were called back to work.