When we strike, we win!

On December 24, 2020, Lilly Thorne led a strike at Hops Burger Bar in Greensboro, North Carolina. The strike represented one of many sporadic restaurant and fast-food workers’ strikes during this pandemic. Here, Lilly recounts the strike with Tina Trutanich for Puntorojo and connects workplace struggles with queer identity and anti-racist union building in the southern United States and beyond.

Tina: Can you talk about challenges and circumstances leading up to the strike at Hops Burger Bar? How did you get your co-workers to support your demands?

Lilly: Challenges started off with a lack of communication between servers and support staffs. My roommate Edy Hayden works as both a server and support staff. Management has separate group chats for those two positions, making it difficult to come together. That is when workers created another group chat for all servers and support staff to talk without management. An anonymous user (who said they used to work at Hops) created a reddit thread, revealing that during the summer Hops closed down [for reasons of the pandemic] because the workers at the Lawndale location demanded it. Ninety percent of workers signed on to demands in an hour and a half! It all happened very quickly. There was a server group chat I saw on reddit that revealed the owner had contracted COVID-19. Workers comprised a list of demands including one that they had to shut down. At another Hops location in Lawndale, the workers went on strike. At first, the management used HIPAA [the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which establishes privacy rules pertaining to health care] as an excuse for lack of transparency; but we were saying: “we don’t need to know who has it, we just need to know COVID-19 is here in the workplace.”

We had our demands by Wednesday night and then called out on Thursday. We finished our draft, signed it, and sent it out later that afternoon. It was our 'no managers' WhatsApp group chat that was discovered, and subsequently disbanded. There was fear of retaliation because the group chat got found out on reddit and it scared people. Restaurants under racial capitalism have a fake “we are family mentality,” and said things like “if you get a rapid test we will pay for it”. The only reason they said that was to get us to get back to work. They messaged certain people to put them on the schedule. It wasn’t long after the 48-hour period that they were doing curbside service. Between the group chat being ratted out and the new schedule for curbside, people were scared and hesitant to keep fighting.

After a one-day strike we delivered our list of demands. Two weeks later, workers received a temporary 'COVID-19 plan of action'. This win includes the company being required to pay sick leave in compliance with the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which made some workers hesitant to keep fighting. The FFCRA originally expired in January and was renewed again until March. We are hoping protections will be extended past March. I had asked my district manager if Lawndale workers were getting their paid sick leave and all she said was “they know about it”, making it concerning, especially if the workers knew what they were entitled to and knew how to ask for it.

Tina: That’s an incredible accomplishment. Has there been any pushback from management since the strike in December? What is the current work environment?

Lilly: Yes, one manager is kind of salty. [LAUGHTER]. But two managers have come around. It is great to see co-workers back in conversation with each other, and solidarity between us as workers. Under the current plan, we got paid sick leave. Unfortunately, the Lawndale workers may not have sick leave. FFCRA expires on March 31st and I hope it is extended. Overall, there is way more solidarity between workers. I think that is the most important part of the current mood.

Tina: What lessons do you think we can learn from the strike?

Lilly: I contacted every person to follow up. I had support but only Edy (my roommate) wanted to be involved. I think base building and getting confidence in the workplace are important because it happened so fast. There was little time to talk strategy. Some of my co-workers were asking, “do we understand how the bosses going to respond?” We didn’t have a lot of time to strategize. We had the petition, the press release, and legal aid. I am incredibly proud of what we did.

I realized there was potential solidarity with folks who protested and the people I work with every day. The time period is a perfect storm: the pandemic, the Movement for Black Lives, and then the election. People are seeing race and class disparities and connecting them together—growing class-consciousness.

Tina: How have the Black Lives Matter movement and last summer's rebellion for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade (and others killed by the police state) inspired you in the workplace?

Lilly: I realized there was potential solidarity with folks who protested and the people I work with every day. The time period is a perfect storm: the pandemic, the Movement for Black Lives, and then the election. People are seeing race and class disparities and connecting them together—growing class-consciousness. All the struggles are interconnected. People see BLM and workplace struggles as connected, and that you can draw from that strength. It fuels me, and has the potential to fuel a lot of people! People are speaking out and raising money for each other! The collection of bail funds, for example, shows power and the strength of community. We got each other. There is strength in numbers and people have our back! We are in this individual mind set, but my problem is your problem we are fighting the same systems that are oppressing us. I took a class with Cristina Dominguez at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and it changed my life. I think that we all are experts in class consciousness; we all can teach each other and share with one another.

Tina: What are your hopes for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in North Carolina? What are your thoughts on centering Trans and Queer BIPOC in workers’ struggles and union-building?

Lilly: Trans and queer BIPOC are already on the defense and are at the forefront because they are the first to be affected by racism, climate change, violence, and all oppression. They already have their necks out there. If you are already on the outside, you know. Queer abolitionists are already there to throw a brick. I think we can find such courage and joy, too. We have so much to lose but so much to gain. Our queer ancestors have led the way. Queer, Black, and Indigenous folks are already at the forefront of the struggles. It’s important that we stick to bottom-up organizing, from below. We must stay intersectional because many people all over the US South and the world are are in the trenches and connecting struggles.

We need more connection with disabled folks and elderly comrades. The white supremacist patriarchy is interpersonal and organized. Fascists are in our workplaces; they are connected to capitalism and work. They are targeting BIPOC and disabled people. They alt-right is rising now and we have to fight back. It is important to live it, and keep organizing. If I can see that my fam is struggling, then we can connect. I cannot help to be optimistic. Not only do we deserve better, but we are capable of it.

Tina: Absolutely! Speaking of optimism, Durham fast-food workers with Raise Up at Freddy’s won an important strike victory. What do you think about present and future anti-racist union building in North Carolina’s food service industry?

Lilly: Union building co-workers reached out! At Freddy’s, the workers fought and won national benefits. It’s about showing other people workers’ power, spreading the word and actually doing it! It is Community support is what it's all about. We had the support of Sunrise Labor, GSO Mutual Aid, and other folks in the community. We’re organizing a strike fund @SunriseLabor and will have more social media posts. You are not alone! We are building in communities and participating in struggles across the US and around the world.

Tina: That’s amazing! There have been recent highly publicized strikes (Hunts Point Produce Market, for example); and inspiring organizing with the Chicago Teachers Union, the Restaurant Organizing Project, Venceremos, and Black-women led Amazon warehouse workers forming a union in Alabama. What do you think about these strikes and organizing efforts?  

Lilly: Being in solidarity with other people and anti-racist union building is key. We are fighting a system. Everyone must find that spark and gain confidence. We can fight and thrive. We can do this across different states and national borders. We are going to get organized enough to get to a general strike. We are almost there. We can do it. We have to dream big and set our sights high.

Lilly Thorne is a 22-year-old, non-binary, bi-racial Dominican. She graduated from UNC Greensboro in August 2020, majoring in women, gender, and sexuality studies, with minors in sociology and social work. Lilly has lived in Greensboro for 5 years and is passionate about her community and the solidarity between struggles as we fight for a better world!

Tina Trutanich is a queer communist educator and poet from Spain and California. She writes about food, nature, revolution, love, and liberation. Between writing breaks, she enjoys dancing, laughing, singing, hiking, and cooking. She lives and works in North Carolina.