Biscuit World union effort rooted in West Virginia history

By LEAH WILLINGHAM
Associated Press

ELKVIEW, W.Va. (AP) — Workers at a franchise of Tudor’s Biscuit World are hoping they will soon be members of West Virginia’s first unionized fast-food restaurant. The union drive has been led by employees in a state that has a storied history of labor activism. Prep Cook Cynthia Nicholson’s late husband belonged to unions as a miner and pipefitter. She says like coal miners who fought for safer working conditions 100 years ago, workers today are pushing for unions because of safety concerns. She said modern workers’ concerns center around being on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. The unionization effort echoes a larger national movement of organizing among retail and food service workers.