After months of work in South Carolina, the wave of Waffle House employees demanding better working conditions has made its way to Georgia. Local organizing efforts are being spearheaded by the Union of Southern Service Workers. The union officially formed in late 2022 from the work of the political group Raise Up the South.

Gerald Green is a USSW member and has been working at Waffle House for seven years as a cook. Green worked at a Waffle House in Tifton, Ga., where staff would have to work in hurricane conditions.

“Power would go out; trees would be torn up,” he said. “Things would get really intense, and they need you to keep the store open like all the time during that — which I just don’t think is safe.”

Now Waffle House workers are asking for their safety to be a priority for the company. The list of demands from the USSW include a minimum $25 an hour, 24 hour security, and an end to unfair paycheck deductions.

Green said at his location near Georgia State University, mandatory meal deductions are leading more people to organize.

“So they're taking out something like $30 a week just for food that you may or may not get,” Green said. “So yeah, that's something that people are aggravated with.”

Union members are working to organize with other Waffle House workers and circulating a petition online for community members to show solidarity with their demands.

Tags: Georgia  Waffle House  union