Supervisor calls to pause cafeteria ban after employers offer card-check neutrality; item returned to committee

Supervisor Ahsha Safaí told the board that, following negotiations with major employers, the hotel and restaurant workers union had notified the city that companies operating employee cafeterias had agreed in principle to card-check neutrality across the industry. Safaí said the change would allow thousands of cafeteria workers the opportunity to organize and gain benefits.

"We have been notified by the hotel and restaurant workers union that these companies and their employers in the employee cafeteria world have come to the table and offer card check neutrality across the board in the entire industry," Safaí said. She thanked companies that participated in discussions — including Facebook, Uber, Dropbox, Twitter, Airbnb and Lyft — as well as Local 2 and small-business stakeholders.

Safaí said the board previously considered a ban on employee cafeterias and then moved to a conditional-use framework to balance labor and neighborhood impacts. Given the negotiations, she moved to send the ordinance back to committee to allow final agreements to be completed. She said not all agreements were fully executed.

A motion to send the ordinance back to committee was made and seconded; the chair announced without objection that the motion passed and the item was referred back to committee.

Ending: The board took no final vote on the planning-code change at the Sept. 3 meeting; the ordinance was sent back to committee so that labor agreements could be finalized and staff could return with any necessary amendments.