Workers Ratify First Ever Tabletop Retail Contract in NYC

The 100+ workers of Tabletop Workers United celebrated the ratification of their first contract yesterday after a year and half of contentious negotiations with Jon Freeman and Greg May, owners of a family of board game cafes including Hex&Co, the largest board game cafe company in Manhattan, the Brooklyn Strategist, and the Uncommons. This makes them the first to win a tabletop retail union contract in NYC. The term of the contract is three years.

The contract includes progressive pay increases prioritizing the workers who are currently making the least (up to a 19% increase, or a $2+/hour wage increase at all three businesses), holiday pay and paid bereavement leave, consistent scheduling, two week notice of schedules, and no scheduling of double shifts or clopens (closing/opening) without the consent of the employee, in addition to health and safety and other important protections.

“Winning and ratifying the first Tabletop Workers United contract is truly incredible. I am so beyond proud of my coworkers and community members; without us working together to organize and take collective action to push ownership to meet with us, none of this would have been possible," said The Uncommons worker Casey Knepley. "I hope our small victory for these tabletop stores can inspire people everywhere, across the country, to work together and fight for what we need and deserve during this tough political climate. Our rights as workers and humans are not a game!”

The employees of Hex&Co, The Brooklyn Strategist and The Uncommons, successfully unionized their workplaces from September - December 2023, becoming Tabletop Workers United. Contract bargaining began in February 2024. From the start, bargaining was antagonistic and delayed, where months would pass without progress. But workers persisted in building their union and their power, through educating customers, organizing rallies, marching on the boss, conducting coordinated walk-outs and picketing, up to garnering supermajority support on a strike vote in April 2025. A unique component of the contract campaign was the formation of the Tabletop Solidarity Committee, made up of customers, which organized nearly 2000 customers to take a boycott pledge, raised $15k in a strike hardship fund, and took in-store actions to confront ownership. Read more in Jacobin and follow Tabletop Workers United on social media on Instagram or Bluesky!