Why the Redmond Homegrown Has Been Closed for More Than 70 Days
The Homegrown storefront in Redmond, Washington.
REDMOND, WA
People in Downtown Redmond may have noticed Homegrown, a popular lunch spot on the corner of Leary Way and Cleveland Street, has been closed for the past two months. A sign posted on the door reads, “We will be closed today due to a staffing shortage.”
The staff, however, are still present most days on the sidewalk outside of the shop. Their signs tell another side of the story: they’re on strike. Workers at the Redmond Homegrown store have been on strike for 78 days, since October 30, 2023.
A sign on the Homegrown front door that reads “We will be closed today due to a staffing shortage.”
According to the Union of Homegrown Workers' Instagram account, “On October 30th, union leader Sydney was fired after she spoke up in a union delegation. Her coworkers immediately walked out on strike…”
Sydney Lankford, a former employee at the Redmond Homegrown, was a leader who helped Homegrown workers gain union recognition with UNITE HERE Local Hospitality Union of the Northwest in late 2022. The contract has yet to be finalized due to pending negotiations with Homegrown.
The GoFundMe page supporting the striking workers describes Lankford’s termination, saying, “Just before firing her, Homegrown gave Sydney a write-up that criticized her for not following a rule about break times, even though Homegrown had not negotiated that rule with our union. The write-up also criticized Sydney for telling a manager, in front of other workers and in a loud voice, that he was a bad manager.”
Out of Homegrown’s ten locations, workers at the Southcenter, Capitol Hill, Queen Anne, and South Lake Union stores have also voted to authorize strikes in solidarity with Lankford and the Redmond workers.
According to a post on the Homegrown Workers' Union Instagram page this week, "Homegrown workers are still fighting to win Sydney’s job back after she was unfairly terminated on October 30. We are also still fighting for job protections and affordable healthcare in our contract.”
The Homegrown Union’s GoFundMe page has raised $12,421 out of their $20,000 goal, which, according to the fundraiser description, “will go toward helping Homegrown workers cover their bills while on strike.”
Homegrown has yet to comment publicly on the recent strike, and did not respond to Redmond Moment’s requests for comment.
Reporting by Madeline Virginia
Photos by Jason Miller
