We are UNITED.
Founded after September 11, 2001, by restaurant workers displaced from the World Trade Center, Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United has grown into a national organization dedicated to achieving economic stability and thriving futures for people working in the restaurant industry. ROC United is the country’s oldest and largest restaurant workers-led organization that works to improve restaurant workers’ lives by building worker power and uniting workers of various backgrounds around shared goals and values.
Over 14 million people count on restaurant jobs to support their families. Yet, this massive workforce struggles with the lowest wages nationwide, wage theft, sexism and racism, and unsafe, harmful working conditions. Restaurant workers are two and a half times more likely to live in poverty than the general workforce. ROC United builds the power of people working in the restaurant industry to advocate for livable wages and workplaces that are fair, safe, inclusive and accessible, pathways for advancement, and equitable benefits. Our growing, diverse membership of 65,000 workers are women, people of color, immigrants, and members of the LGBTQIA community. We train and develop the leadership of our members to advocate for systemic change in their workplaces and public policy. ROC United is working toward achieving an ambitious goal of engaging 20% of the nation’s restaurant workforce by 2030.
DEI Commitment Statement
Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion across race, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, language, identity, physical or mental ability, ethnicity, perspective and experience is in our DNA. It drives us forward every day to create an environment where workers from any background and culture are safe, healthy and empowered, get their voices heard, feel welcomed, supported and valued, and are given the same opportunities.
ROC Radio: Empowering Voices in the Restaurant Industry
Unlock the power of natural hair! On this episode of ROC Radio, we unravel the transformative CROWN Act – a law reshaping workplaces and championing your right to embrace your natural self.”
"I DESERVE
THE RIGHT
TO CHOOSE."
Banning abortion rights, which would immediately take effect in at least 13 states that are mostly in the South and Midwest, will surely devastate underserved communities, including restaurant workers who earn low wages and struggle with the lack of proper health care.
As procedural rules are being used to stymie policies that hardworking families need and attempt to obliterate our constitutional rights, we can’t afford to just stand by and cease from taking actions.
2020 SORW*: A SNAPSHOT
- There are almost 14 million restaurant workers in the U.S.
- Women comprise a majority of the industry
- The median wage for a restaurant worker in the U.S. is $11.65 per hour.
- Servers are overwhelmingly women
- Latinx workers are the most represented racial/ethnic group in the restaurant industry
- Over 1/5 of restaurant workers are immigrants
- More than half of the mothers in the restaurant industry are single mothers
- Restaurant workers are more than twice as likely to be in poverty than the general workforce
*ROC 2020 SORW FACT SHEETS
CELEBRATING WOMEN IN THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY
IN THE FRONT AND
BACK OF THE HOUSE
Looking for a local chapter?
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FEATURED VIDEOS
Dr. Sekou Siby shares his own 9/11 experience as one of these workers, and is joined by Alexandra Délano, Assistant Professor of Global Studies at the New School, and Benjamin Nienass, Associate Professor of Political Science and Law at Montclair State University, to highlight the stories of undocumented immigrants who died on 9/11, while discussing the complex legal processes of proving their existence and ensuring they would not be forgotten.
Former and current workers at Blaze Pizza in Stadium Village held a press conference to celebrate an anticipated settlement of over $28,000 in unpaid wages and liquidated damages. The anticipated settlement on behalf of workers is between the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights and former owners of Blaze Pizza in Stadium Village.
Listen to Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib share why the #RestaurantWorkersBillOfRights is so important.
To mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Windows on the World survivors will share their reflections on what they experienced then and what it means to them today in the time of pandemic.
Hear from our Chief Program Officer, Teófilo Reyes, as he breaks down the need for a Restaurant Worker Bill of Rights and to defund the National Restaurant Association.
Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su discusses the gender pay gap on Equal Pay Day for Latinas.
Spotlight:
SUPPORT THE FTC’S PROPOSED BAN ON NON-COMPETE CLAUSES:
On Jan. 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a new rule that would ban non-compete agreements between employers and workers in most circumstances. The proposed rule would also require employers to rescind any existing non-compete agreements with current and former workers.
The deadline for submitting public comments has been extended until APRIL 19, 2023.