At ‘Test Kitchen,' unionization is on the front burner

Workers at one of the nation’s most popular TV cooking shows are looking for more recognition. 

In recent weeks, about 150 cooks, writers, editors, videographers, web developers, shoppers, on-screen talent and others at America’s Test Kitchen, its associated magazine, Cook’s Illustrated, and other publications signed union cards and, in affiliation with the Communications Workers of America, petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for a union election.  

The workers at Boston-based ATK, as the company is known colloquially, join a nascent organizing movement that has seen employees at Starbucks, Amazon, REI and Trader Joe’s retail locations join to push for better wages and benefits and manageable workloads.

But if the unionizing movement at those retailers has proved combative, ATK’s workers, organizing as America’s Test Kitchen United, are hopeful that the company will bargain fairly.

Test Kitchen workers lament the comparatively low pay. They otherwise speak of their passion for their work, the enthusiasm and talent of their colleagues and generally well of the company itself. 

Sarah Sandler, a social-media manager at ATK, said she and her co-workers are increasingly hard-pressed to afford living in the Boston metro area, which has become one of the nation’s most expensive cities. 

“We have a lot of competitors in food media and food magazines and we are not close to what they're offering for similar positions,” Sandler, 25, said last week. “So really just being able to meet market rate and match the cost of living in Boston is a big goal of ours.” 

The workers are also seeking guaranteed annual increases, pathways for advancement and lower contributions to their benefit accounts.

Sandler, whose mother often made dinner using Cook’s Illustrated recipes when Sarah was a teenager, said she remains impressed with the dedication and expertise of her co-workers, a primary reason she has not moved to another company. “That's been definitely a factor that has kept me going over the past couple of years,” she said.  

Pandemic lit a fire

Discussions among ATK workers about whether to unionize had been ongoing for about six years, sometimes just sporadically. But the pandemic brought a new level of urgency to the conversation, said Chad Chenail, a staff writer and podcast producer at ATK Kids. 

With people more or less confined to their homes for weeks and even months as the virus enveloped the nation, amateur cooks found time to cultivate their skills and “ATK really hit its stride,” Chenail, 30, said last week. 

“And we all, as employees, sort of sacrificed a lot in order to figure out how to keep content being made, figuring everything out in the new sort of at home environment, testing recipes at home and making the things that we make in an entirely new way,” he said. 

And while success brought workers a sense of accomplishment, ATK did not share the wealth as its employees believed the company should have. “As the people making the content, we're not seeing the return on the work that we deserve. And so that really kind of lit a fire for people who have sacrificed a lot,” including by taking second jobs and postponing life decisions, such as marrying or purchasing a home, Chenail said. 

The workers had set a May 31 deadline for the company to voluntarily recognize its union. In any case, a company spokesperson had indicated that unionization would come down to a vote. Should the workers vote in favor, the spokesperson, Brian Franklin, said, “the company will bargain with that union in good faith.

“In the upcoming weeks, we will ensure that every employee has the information necessary to make an informed decision on the merits of unionization.”

Nonetheless, ATK would prefer for the unionization effort to, at the very least, stall. “The management of the company is also proud of the fact that it has worked with, and been responsive to, employees when they raise concerns, and it would prefer to continue to work directly and collectively with employees in the future, rather than have to deal with a union on their behalf,” the statement said. 

‘We deserve better’

But Sandler said her efforts to do just that have left her frustrated. She said it would be in ATK’s interest for it to address the workers’ concerns.

“Really the biggest reason we're doing this is because we love our jobs and the people who work at America's Test Kitchen, and we've seen really talented people have to leave the company because they just couldn't afford to stick around,” she said. “We just want to make it a lot more feasible and sustainable for people to stay in the long term.”

Chenail said that just as the pandemic increased revenue and profits at ATK and other companies, it also lent clarity to the meaning of work, and work’s place in one’s life. 

“It became clear to us what it means to slow down if we're not working 12 hours a day,” he said. “And a lot of people learned more of a balance, I think, in working life.”

Those sentiments, he suggested, are among the principal reasons that union organizing has flourished in the last few months.  

“It's motivating,” Chenail said, “to see other groups who are experiencing the same thing and who are standing up and saying that this isn't good enough, that we deserve better.” 

richardk@thechiefleader.com