A popular Vietnamese restaurant in Southeast D.C. abruptly shut its doors Monday, and its former staff claims the closure is due to its attempt to unionize over wages and working conditions.
In a statement to partners at 7草莓传媒, IHG Hotels & Resorts, the owners of The Wharf’s InterContinental Hotel, announced that it will be parting ways with chef Kevin Tien and options are
The closure comes more than a month after the restaurant made Food and Wine鈥檚
Unite Here Local 25, a hospitality union, said in a statement posted on Twitter the decision to close Moon Rabbit comes weeks after a majority of the restaurant鈥檚 employees petitioned for union elections this month.
鈥淭his move by the hotel is cynical and disgusting,鈥� wrote Paul Schwalb, the executive secretary and treasurer of Unite Here Local 25.听
鈥淐losing Moon Rabbit on the eve of a union election shows a gross disregard for the people who helped turn moon rabbit into a national sensation. Nobody should do business with a hotel that treats workers as disposable.鈥�
Following news of Moon Rabbit’s closure, we are calling for a boycott of non-union in the D.C. area. Details 🔽
鈥� UNITE HERE Local 25 (@UHLocal25)
鈥淚 woke up today without a job, I feel horrible,鈥� PeterGay Abrahams, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 even go back home yet because I am embarrassed to even go home to my kids.鈥�
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 just get up one day and say ‘Hey we want to form a union’ we feel like we aren鈥檛 being treated fairly,鈥� Abrahams said.
Unite Here Local 25 said its members will be protesting outside the InterContinental Hotel at The Wharf Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning.
草莓传媒 has reached out for comment from IHG Hotels and Resorts about the closure.
