The Dish
We are the monthly, entirely volunteer, online newsletter of the DSA’s Restaurant Organizing Project (ROP). As a part of that campaign, we are committed to a more equitable, more just, and more democratic food service industry achieved through the empowerment of those who work within it. We hope to not only give updates about the goings on of ROP and connected campaigns but to amplify the voices and actions of workers across the industry. Industry groups, restaurateurs and celebrity chefs are given any number of platforms to put forward their ideas. Whatever else, we at the Dish are united in our desire to see workers speak and act for themselves. We generally aim to publish the 3rd Tuesday of the month.
Restaurant Organizing Project
The Restaurant Organizing Project is a national priority campaign of the Democratic Socialist Labor Commission (DSLC), the national labor body of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Amid the initial disruptions of the 2020 COIVD-19 pandemic, ROP was formed by restaurant workers and labor activists to work towards wide-scale organization, to support those organizing themselves in food service jobs, and to be an avenue for knitting together the disparate struggles across our industry. ROP receives national media coverage and is open to all food services workers. Built around local chapters and bi-weekly national meetings, ROP aims to support, spread and participate in organizing restaurants – in whatever forms that organizing takes. Fill out this form to get involved. You can also anytime to seek advice, to join/start a chapter of ROP or for support spreading the word nationally about your local campaign.
We currently have chapters or collaborators in: Ann Arbor, Kansas City, Chicago, Huron Valley, Denver, Cleveland, New Orleans, NYC, San Antonio, San Francisco, Austin, Twin Cities, Buffalo, Tacoma, Boston, Madison, Los Angeles
ROP in the News
Texas service workers demand vaccine access, protest end to mask order
NYC Restaurant Industry Divided Over Return of Indoor Dining
‘We Feed You, Don’t Let Us Starve’: Restaurant Workers Mobilize to Extend Unemployment Benefits
The pandemic plight of Chicago restaurant workers: Maskless customers, no vaccines and a constant COVID-19 risk
Restaurant Workers Are Building Solidarity Amid the Pandemic