We had the good fortune of connecting with Graham K and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Graham, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I started Restaurant Worker News in March of 2019. A month prior, there was a walkout that had happened among three Sonic locations which occurred on the same day, same shift, and over the same issue. There was barely any discussion around it in the labor movement, mostly because it wasn’t part of an NLRB election, contract negotiations, or any other sort of government-sanctioned course of action. As a lifelong restaurant worker, I’ve seen all sorts of job actions take place outside of the formal “labor relations” system but they never receive the same sort of attention or discourse. I wanted to create something that reflected how workers struggle on the job from a worker’s perspective.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Most of the labor press seeks to cover what happens under government supervision: NLRB elections, lawsuits, contract negotiations, etc. Restaurant Worker News will still provide updates on some of these events, but what I really seek to highlight are the day-to-day worker-managed struggles, as opposed to the state-sanctioned mediation which is primarily handled by professionals and technocrats.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’ve been a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) for a decade and my experiences in organizing workers and training organizers in this union have given me a lot of perspective and insight that I try to bring to this project. I’ve encountered a lot of worker organizations throughout the 25 years that I’ve worked in this industry, but the IWW is the only one which seeks to build power for workers by workers.

Website: https://www.restaurantworkernews.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/restaurantworkernews/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RestaurantWork7

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/restaurantworkersnews

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@restaurantworkernews5404

Other: LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/restaurantworkernews

Image Credits
Naty Kos art

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