Owners of the famed Signature Room restaurant failed to provide workers an opportunity to bargain over the effects of the closure, according to a claim the union representing the workers filed Monday with the National Labor Relations Board.
United Here Local 1 filed the NLRB complaint a week after it filed a federal lawsuit saying owners failed to give workers adequate notice of their job losses. The union, which represents 132 former Signature Room workers, has also filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor.
The Signature Room, which was at the top of the former John Hancock Center, announced its closure on Sept. 28, effective immediately. Workers were informed of the closure that same morning with a 6 a.m. email, they said at a protest last week.
The NLRB filing alleges that by failing to provide proper notice ahead of the closure, Infusion Management Group, the restaurant’s operator, violated federal labor law by depriving workers the opportunity to bargain over the closure.
The claim asks the board to require Infusion Management Group to bargain in good faith and provide an adequate remedy.
The lawsuit seeks backpay, health insurance coverage and other benefits for 60 days under the state’s Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, known as the WARN Act.
