A little over a year ago, Souther California-based Korean BBQ spot Genwa did not pay its employees for all the hours they worked nor the tips they earned, and to make matters worse, did not permit 15 minute breaks.

With three locations across Los Angeles, and celebrity clientele, the popular spot has a menu that boasts a hefty tab. The average appetizer costs upwards of $25, traditional Korean dishes can run you anywhere from $40-70 and a full course will hit your pockets for hundreds. Suffice to say, this isn’t your average mom and pop Korean spot.

The restaurant industry has a storied and infamous reputation of underpaying employees while demanding unreasonable work hours. When the pandemic hit a couple years ago, the challenges restaurant workers faced increased, forcing many locations to close or layoff employees due to the lack of revenue. 

With the industry at a stall, the pandemic served as a catalyst for workers across many industries, highlighting unfair wages, work environments and inspiring efforts towards unionization. 

Los Angeles Times’ reports that as far back as 2017, Steven Chung and Jenny Kim, two past Genwa employees, both brought paycheck discrepancies to management. In response, Chung was sent on vacation before being fired soon after, while Kim, calculating being owed nearly $50,000 in wages and penalties, was told to keep quiet about it. 

At the time, Chung and Kim, along with other Genwa employees, reached out to the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance looking only to be paid what they were owed. Efforts to establish an actual union didn’t materialize until 2020, after Chung, Kim and many initial Genwa employees quit. By the time unionization momentum began picking up, the pandemic hit, bringing things to a halt. 

Some time last year, Genwa employees re-ignited their efforts to create a better, more mindful work/employee relationship, successfully establishing the first ever Korean BBQ union. Not stopping there, last month 50 or so employees signed a contract, increasing their minimum pay to $20 an hour, including seniority rights and reimbursement for healthcare costs. 

The milestone is a significant one as it required overcoming language and cultural barriers common to Korean restaurants, which employ immigrant workers. Asian American community leaders and labor experts say Genwa’s victory is encouraging and serves as a model for other Korean-owned businesses in Los Angeles. 

For further information on this inspiring story from the Los Angeles Times, click here.