Employees at BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse in Modesto are seeking to form the company’s first union, saying a mandatory tip-sharing policy has sharply cut into their pay.
Michael Williams, a server and union president, said the company began requiring servers and bartenders to hand over 4% of their total sales to back-of-house staff. He said the policy has reduced front-of-house earnings by about 20%.
“They implemented a 4% of sales tip share, and what that did was it pretty much cut the servers’ and bartenders’ pay by approximately 20%,” Williams said.
Workers say the system leaves them vulnerable when customers don’t tip.
“For instance, if we had a $100 tab and I got no tip on that, I’m negative four, so that’s gonna get taken out of my next tips,” Williams said.
He added that the company should increase pay for cooks and dishwashers directly, rather than shifting the cost onto tipped employees.
“They shouldn’t be taking money from poor people to pay other poor people so rich executives can get bigger bonuses,” Williams said.
The union vote is scheduled for September 26 and would cover about 152 employees at the Vintage Faire Mall restaurant. If approved, it would be the first BJ’s location in the country to unionize.
“We are proud of the open-door culture we have built and the innovative ideas and helpful feedback our team members have brought to the table over the years. We are confident that when our team members have all of the information, they will agree we can achieve more, as a company and individually, by working together as a team,” BJ’s Restaurant Modesto said in a statement. “We remain committed to listening to and addressing our team members’ concerns and delivering the great experience our team and guests expect from us.”
Will Kelly, executive director of the North Valley Labor Federation, said his office learned of the campaign after employees had already filed their petition with the National Labor Relations Board.
“They came together, they organized, and they, a majority of them, filed for election with the NLRB on their own, which is very rare and very exceptional,” Kelly said.
He said the trend reflects growing frustration across industries.
“When companies treat those jobs as disposable, they’re really treating those workers as disposable,” Kelly said.
Other employees say the issue is not only about tips but about making ends meet in a strained economy.
“I work three jobs, and I have two kids. It’s hard enough trying to support a family these days in this economy,” said server Jacob Gullatt.
Williams said he knows speaking out comes with risks but believes it is necessary.
“I’m willing to take whatever consequences come with it, to go ahead and help people out,” he said.