The production company I.M.P. on Wednesday told door staff, bartenders, food vendors and other hospitality workers at three major D.C. venues — 9:30 Club, the Atlantis and Lincoln Theatre — that it would recognize their efforts to unionize with Unite Here Local 25, as labor organizing efforts among other workers continue across the company’s locations.
The production company I.M.P. on Wednesday told door staff, bartenders, food vendors and other hospitality workers at three major D.C. venues — 9:30 Club, the Atlantis and Lincoln Theatre — that it would recognize their efforts to unionize with Unite Here Local 25, as labor organizing efforts among other workers continue across the company’s locations.
“While we know working with a union will fundamentally change our relationship with our bartenders, service and event staff, we understand that a majority of U Street venue employees have expressed their desire for union representation,” I.M.P. Chief Operating Officer Donna Westmoreland wrote in a memo to staff at the venues. “As such, we have agreed to voluntarily recognize Local 25 and will bargain in good faith to reach a contract.”
The news comes after workers petitioned I.M.P., which also runs shows at the Anthem and Merriweather Post Pavilion, for a fair process to unionize last month. Their efforts came in response to what they described as stagnant wages, scaled-back privileges and safety concerns. (At the time, I.M.P. said they were reviewing the petitions and pointed to its “good relationship” with a workers union at Merriweather.)
Over 70 percent of more than 300 employees signed those petitions to call for a card check agreement, in which workers sign authorization cards indicating that they wish to join a union. Now, with I.M.P.’s recognition, they’ll begin to negotiate a contract.
“I am so proud of all the work we have done to get it this point, and am grateful that I.M.P. seems to be willing to work with us. It’s a huge victory, and also the fight is far from over,” I.M.P. door staffer Hunter Spears said via a union spokesperson, nodding to a parallel unionization effort that is still pending for box office and stage employees.
While I.M.P. is recognizing food and hospitality staff, they have not yet had meetings with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Last month, stagehands, lighting designers and sound engineers at those three venues, along with the Anthem, petitioned to work with IATSE Local 22, while box office employees at all four venues were seeking to join IATSE Local 868. A spokesperson for IATSE said they’ll be meeting with I.M.P. next week.
“We are expecting I.M.P. to reach a similar agreement with IATSE,” a spokesperson for Unite Here Local 25 said in a statement. “Onward until we all win our union!”
In the letter, Westmoreland noted that working together will be necessary in the face of economic challenges and other uncertainties. With those potential struggles, she wrote, “it is essential for us to collectively strengthen our workplace, improve communication, and chart a sustainable future.”
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