Sudden Closing of Kim’s Prompts Unfair Labor Practice Charges

Ann Kim and Vestalia Management Restaurant Group may have closed Kim’s Uptown Restaurant in retaliation for workers organizing. This leaves workers, the community, and legal experts asking serious questions.

On June 27th, workers at Kim’s won their union election by a 15% margin, in spite of widely-circulated reports of union-busting activity by the restaurant’s management. A few weeks later, workers were ready to begin bargaining their first contract. But they never got the chance. 

Vestalia, which also owns Young Joni, Pizzeria Lola, and Hello Pizza, announced at the start of the first bargaining session on August 20th that Kim’s would close permanently in just 10 days. This legally questionable move has left dozens of workers suddenly unemployed and prompted UNITE HERE! Local 17, the union representing these workers, to file Unfair Labor Practice charges. 

It is illegal for bosses to shut down a business in order to avoid bargaining with unionized workers. Vestalia claims the timing was a coincidence and the closure was due to “ongoing financial difficulties.” But because workers organized a union, Vestalia is legally required to negotiate with them about the closure. UNITE HERE! has filed unfair labor practice charges related to this and also other alleged union-busting tactics Vestalia employed leading up to the election. 

The sudden, legally questionable closure clashes with the public persona of Ann Kim, part-owner of Vestalia and the chef behind all four restaurant concepts. Kim is a James Beard Award winner and longtime celebrity of the Twin Cities food scene who has been celebrated as a role model for women chefs and immigrant entrepreneurs.

“Why did the company close Kim’s before we’d even had a chance to share our bargaining proposals? Why won’t they commit to basic decency to the people Ann Kim called ‘family’?” asks former Kim’s worker Alice Kolder, quoted in a press release from Local 17. “We’re committed, talented workers. If the closure isn’t about busting the union or punishing union supporters, there’s no excuse not to hire us at Young Joni, Pizzeria Lola, or Hello Pizza or put us on preferential hiring lists until spots open up.”

The three non-union Vestalia-owned restaurants remain open for business. Vestalia has rejected the union’s demand for preferential hiring at these locations for the former Kim’s workers, as well as refusing to pay them for their full PTO balances. Workers and the union have vowed to keep fighting. 

“Restaurants can’t just discard their workers after they stand up and fight for their rights. Restaurant workers deserve a hell of a lot better than the way we’ve seen them treated and heard them talked about this summer,” said Sheigh Freeberg, Secretary Treasurer of Local 17. “There needs to be accountability.”

Read previous Workers Confluence coverage of the Kim’s campaign here and here.