A Side of Union Rings | Asheville Food Service Industry Organizers

In 2022, less than 3 percent of North Carolina workers belonged to a union. Only South Carolina had a smaller percentage. Still, in Asheville, food and beverage workers are organizing and seeing momentum.

My guests today are Jen Hampton of Asheville Food and Beverage United; and Ariana Lingerfeldt, a chef at Green Sage Cafe South Asheville, who this past March led a successful effort to unionize that staff. We talk about their separate paths toward organizing,  overcoming anti-union propaganda and confronting employment systems they say are designed to divide workers. We also dig into the industry-specific issues they’re fighting for beyond higher salaries.