This week saw the restaurant industry’s first successful union election in the coronavirus pandemic era when Tattersall Distilling in Minneapolis overwhelmingly voted to organize. On this week’s episode of Working Lunch, the team from Align Public Strategies looks at the factors that contributed to this, the vulnerability of that particular market and what operators need to pay attention to going forward.

Then the team talks automation with Jamie Richardson, vice president of government and shareholder relations for White Castle System, Inc. They talk about his company’s pending experiment leveraging robots in the back of the house.

Plus, the podcast has a conversation about how a possible Joe Biden administration may have very different criteria for what responsible corporate engagement looks like than the current administration, and what that could mean for brands going forward. The podcast wraps up with the weekly legislative scorecard.

Working Lunch · Episode 179: Workers at Minneapolis Bar Unionize, Citing COVID-19 Concerns

Align Public Strategies is a full-service public affairs and creative firm that helps corporate brands, governments and nonprofits navigate the outside world and inform their internal decision-making. This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of Nation's Restaurant News or Restaurant Hospitality.