On Jan. 7, workers at Eeva, a Kensington pizzeria, bakery, and bottle shop, expressed their intent to unionize and join the Philadelphia Joint Board of Workers United, Local 80. 

In a letter to management the Eeva workers wrote, “Eeva is growing in size, production output, and reputation, largely due to the contributions of its employees. The jobs needed to run a successful restaurant and bakery require specialized vocations. In turn, the individuals with these skills need the support of Eeva in order to lead secure and fulfilled lives both inside and out of their workplace.”

The workers want to be able to have a say on the company’s direction as it grows. 

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the owners, Mark Corpus, Greg Dunn and Mark Capriotti, have said that they will voluntarily recognize the union. They did the same with their coffee shop, ReAnimator Coffee, when it unionized with Local 80 in Oct. 2022.  

In a statement they said, “Our all-day bakery, restaurant, and bottle shop are powered by curious, creative people who constantly challenge Eeva to grow, adapt, and reinvent itself. In that spirit, we look forward to ushering in this next chapter of Eeva and continuing to grow this experiment with our staff and our community of supporters in the years to come.”

Still relatively new to the Philadelphia food scene as a brick-and-mortar shop, Eeva is already getting accolades. Eater named it one of its 11 best restaurants in America in 2021. 

Local 80’s goal is to unite service workers in Philadelphia to improve conditions in their industry. Some of the conditions that need to be changed are long hours, low pay, high physical demand, and lack of benefits. 

These conditions echo the reasons workers across the country and industries have been unionizing or striking in recent years. In addition to an uptick in workers joining, there was also a 57-year high support for unions. 

So far, 17 locations and 150 workers are represented by Local 80. Eeva is the sixth company to join the union since it started in May 2022. It is also the first restaurant represented that does dinner service. 

Local 80 also represents workers at Elixr, Good Karma, Ultimo, and Korshak Bagels.