Restaurant employees at the upscale Italian restaurant Lodi in New York City have recently begun an organizing effort, which is a rare occurrence at independent, high-end restaurants. These workers have been motivated to unionize to demand higher wages to meet the high cost of living in NYC as well as adequate staffing and improved workplace safety and training measures. This push for unionization has been popular throughout the food and hospitality industries lately. To display union support, some workers have started to wear small buttons on their uniforms, but they have experienced strong pushback from the restaurant's management in response. Workers claim that management has recruited some workers to spread misinformation about the legality of the union, while the restaurant's chef and owner has stated his efforts to create a positive workplace culture.
See "Workers at high-end NYC restaurant launch unionization effort, echoing widespread demands for higher wages and better workplace conditions across the food service industry", Frida Garza, Guardian, February 23, 2023