Six months after ending their 84-day strike at Carrboro restaurant Acme Food & Beverage Co., a group of former employees is celebrating a belated concession from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and forging ahead in their fight for workers’ rights.

The strike, which spanned November 2021 to February 2022, was triggered by what employees described as the “willful ignorance of upper management” in addressing sexual harassment allegations they had raised against Acme’s owner, Kevin Callaghan. 

After months of largely unsuccessful negotiations with the restaurant’s legal representation—and after an HR audit concluded that Callaghan had made employees uncomfortable but not sexually harassed them—the workers decided to end the strike, with all but one permanently vacating their positions.

Though none of their demands were met in full, the strikers say they felt proud of their attempt to better working conditions for future Acme employees, as the INDY previously reported—and now, the NLRB has confirmed that their efforts were not in vain.

In late December 2021, the striking workers filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB that “asserted, among other things, that Acme violated its employees’ federal labor rights by threatening employees for speaking out publicly about their working conditions and sexual harassment at work,” says Chapel Hill attorney Trisha Pande, who represented the striking workers pro bono.

After months of investigation, the NLRB’s regional office in Winston-Salem ruled that Acme had violated federal labor law by making “coercive statements to employees,” Pande says.

With the approval of the strikers who filed the charge, Acme has since signed off on a settlement agreement that requires the restaurant to distribute a notice to all current and former employees.

The notice informs employees that they “have the right to discuss wages, hours, and working conditions—including raising concerns about workplace sexual harassment—with other employees” and states that Acme “will not tell [workers] to stop making accusations or publicly speculating about [their] concerns regarding workplace sexual harassment.” Employees also have the right to form, assist, or join a union, the notice reads.

“While this may not seem like a lot, it was extremely validating for us to receive, and we are glad to have closed this chapter,” strike organizer Madison Burns wrote in an Instagram post this morning.

To celebrate their NLRB win, the former strikers are teaming up with the Chapel Hill–Carrboro Workers Coalition—which Burns founded in April—to host a “People’s Potluck” this Labor Day weekend where local workers can learn about the process of filing a case with the NLRB, sign up for an organizer training event, and meet with representatives from grassroots labor campaign Fight For $15.

The potluck is on September 4 at 5 p.m. in Baldwin Park; admission is free and open to the public.

Support independent local journalism. Join the INDY Press Club to help us keep fearless watchdog reporting and essential arts and culture coverage viable in the Triangle. 

Follow Staff Writer Lena Geller on Twitter or send an email to lgeller@indyweek.com.