Image by AK.

Boycotts of restaurants that refuse to let their workers unionize are gathering steam nationwide, with the latest boycott against 6 popular eateries in the Washington DC area drawing support from dozens of Democratic members of Congress, including former House speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Ortez (D-NY) as well as Senators Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

Most of the DC-area restaurants being targeted are owned by Stephen Starr, a famed Philadelphia restaurateur who is also a major Democratic party donor, giving the boycott effort added oomph.

The six eateries include some of Washington’s highest-profile dining establishments including Le Diplomate, Osteria Mozza and The Occidental. Several of these elite outlets have been chosen in the past as venues for major Democratic party fundraisers. In addition, top Democratic party leaders, including many of those that signed the boycott pledge, are known to dine at these same establishments on a regular basis.

The DC boycott is the work of the Local 25 of Unite Here, a union that represents some 7,000 hospitality workers in the area. Unite launched the boycott after a supermajority of its members charged that all 6 eateries were harassing their workers seeking to establish union bargaining rights to push for higher wages and better working conditions. Starr, through his publicity outlet, denies the charges and accuses the Unite boycott of being “heavy-handed.”

But Unite has documented in considerable detail the worker harassment and obstruction claims made against the management at the 6 restaurants.

The DC area boycott is only the latest sign that grassroots economic pressure on corporate America is growing in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s reelection as president. Other major consumer boycotts have been underway at Walmart, Amazon and Target outlets, some of them organized by the People’s Union USA. The

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