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By: Maritza S
CAMBRIDGE, MA – In early February 2026, Lamplighter workers filed for union recognition for their bargaining unit of 30-40 workers encompassing the front of house, production, sales, kitchen, and pepita. They face an imminent election on Friday, February 27.
On February 22, Lamplighter workers drummed up support by inviting their regulars and relational networks to a union solidarity day across their two taprooms, both a show of support and a chance to inform community members of the campaign and its oncoming actions.
Lamplighter workers are organizing with Local 1445 of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), a union of 11,000 in Massachusetts concentrated in the food packaging, grocery, cannabis, and retail industries. Recent UFCW 1445 victories include the 2025 UMass Memorial workers’ ratification of a 3-year contract in Worcester and other shops joining the union’s ranks – particularly in brewing and cannabis.
Working Mass spoke with a worker with Lamplighter Brewing the day before the solidarity day:
WM: When were you hired at Lamplighter?
Gabe (Worker): I was hired in July 2024 I love working at Lamplighter, to be honest – it’s a really great place to work. It’s a really good community. The front of house team is a really lovely team and I’ve recently been working a little bit in production, too, and I like working with those guys as well.
WM: What inspired you to get involved in organizing in the union?
Gabe: It’s just one of those things where we as a team were looking to have a greater say and stake in the business as a whole.
[He paused]
We all really love being a part of the Lamplighter community, and I would say there were some things that we noticed that made us feel like we needed to collectively bargain in order to have a more secure future at Lamplighter as it grows and develop and grow and develop together.
WM: What were the top demands or issues that you and your coworkers experienced?
Gabe: I think demands around job security and then also better benefits and of course, more secure and better pay.
WM: How did management respond to the unionizing? Have you faced retaliation?
Gabe: Of course, they declined to voluntarily recognize our union so we will be going to an election and have stated they do not believe that unionization is a good fit, as they described it, for Lamplighter. So I would describe their response as, I would say, negative.
WM: What is the best case scenario of victory? What does that look like?
Gabe: For me, the best case scenario is a situation where all of the workers at Lamplighter feel they can work without worrying about their job security or how they’re going to pay bills.
This dream is a shared one, but evidently opposed by management.
The February 22 solidarity day at Lamplighter Brewing Co. drove up customer awareness of the union through both passersby and activation of relational networks. More and more people become aware of the union and thus are likely to act in solidarity with workers during moments of higher confrontation during the union election process.
The support of the community is key to the organizing drive at Lamplighter. They have also asked for supporters to leave reviews shouting out the union as they move towards election on Friday, February 27.
Maritza S is a contributing writer to Working Mass.
The post Interview: Lamplighter Brewers Drum Up Community Support Before Union Vote appeared first on Working Mass.
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