The Working Lunch Align Public Strategies

A unionization effort at a high-profile restaurant in Minneapolis could be the equivalent of the early efforts in the coffee sector in both Boston and Buffalo that led directly to Starbucks. Operators large and small in Minneapolis better buckle up and operators everywhere should be paying close attention. We’ll explain why.
And we are joined by Mike Whatley, Vice-President of State Affairs & Grassroots Advocacy at the National Restaurant Association to talk about the state of play of the minimum wage ballot initiatives in Arizona, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri. We’ll also talk about junk fees and outline the industry priorities on the ground this summer.
We’ll talk about that important development and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

We are joined by Phil Wilson, President & General Counsel of the Labor Relations Institute to talk about the recent application of the Cemex decision in a restaurant organizing effort and forcing the operators to bargain. Is this a one-off or just the beginning as the labor community continues to focus on the industry.
We’ll talk about that important development and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

With a new union focused on organizing QSR’s in the South, and pro-union think tanks disparaging the “Southern Economic Model”, the escalation of the southern prison labor issue is not happening in a vacuum. How should the industry view what is happening down South and more importantly, how to prepare for it.
And the landmark Cemex decision has barreled headfirst into the restaurant industry with a New York landmark restaurant facing the possibility of being the first in the industry ordered to recognize a union without an election. We will dive into that.
We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

Minneapolis has successfully engineered a labor standards board for nursing home workers that will set benefit and wage levels for that sector. So far advocates have considered it a big success building momentum for the concept. Any guesses as to which industry is next on their agenda? You guessed it. We’ll discuss what’s coming down the pike for the restaurant industry.
And under the guise of “we missed the memo”, how, when and why did the restaurant industry and its supply chain partners end up in the middle of most of the biggest political and policy issues of our day? We’ll try to figure that out.
We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

We are joined by Sean Kennedy, the EVP of Public Affairs for the National Restaurant Association to reflect on last week’s summiting of Capitol Hill by hundreds of restauant operators during the Assocation’s annual Public Affairs Conference. What did Members of Congress learn from us and what did we learn from them? We’ll discuss.
And in the wake of political blowback, are leading companies shying away from their corporate diversity and inclusion goals or are they merely just talking about them less. We’ll take a look at that.
We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

There are some important restaurant states this year with minimum wage and tip credit elimination measures on the November ballot. Ohio is at the top of that list. We are joined by John Barker, CEO of the Ohio Restaurant & Hospitality Alliance as well as Tod Bowen, their head of External Affiars & Government Relations, to level set on their pending measure to both incease the minimum wage to $15/hr and eventually eliminate the tip credit.
We will also review the general state of play of those wage issues across the country as many legislative sessions are close to wrapping up.
We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.