Lamplighter Brewing Workers Vote to Join UFCW Local 1445

Forty-five employees at Lamplighter Brewing Co.'s Broadway and Cambridge Crossing taprooms voted Friday to join United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1445 in a National Labor Relations Board-supervised election, union and news outlets reported, and will now begin bargaining for their first contract covering both Cambridge locations.

Workers announced plans to organize last summer and filed for recognition in early February, with Working Mass reporting a formal filing on February 4, 2026 for a bargaining unit it described as roughly 40 rank-and-file. Organizers staged a solidarity day on February 22 at both taprooms to rally regulars and supporters and asked patrons to leave online reviews in support ahead of the vote. Working Mass updated readers that the NLRB-supervised vote was decided on Friday, February 27; Boston.com and The Boston Globe likewise reported the result as a Friday vote, with Boston.com publishing a March 3 update.

The bargaining unit covers front of house, production, sales, kitchen staff, and the employees who clean each morning, according to The Boston Globe, which reported the 45-employee figure across both facilities. Working Mass characterized the victory as a narrow vote and labeled Lamplighter the first brewery in Massachusetts to unionize, a claim that outlet made in its coverage of the result.

Organizers framed the drive around wages, benefits, health care, workplace safety, and predictability. Gabe Packevicz, lead bartender at Cambridge Crossing, laid out key negotiation topics as “wages, benefits, health care, and workplace safety.” The Harvard Crimson and other reporting said workers will push for improved insurance policies, higher wages, and more predictable daily scheduling in the first contract. Lead bartender Ryan McFarland said, “With a union contract, we’ll continue to deliver the welcoming atmosphere and quality that makes us special,” and added, “I’m proud to work in a place where all of the staff – from production and kitchen, to the front of house and sales team, to the people who clean every morning – have a seat at the table.” Cambridge bartender Owen Murray said, “From the start of this process, we’ve viewed this as an opportunity for us to have a say. I’m looking forward to the stability and predictability that comes with having a union.”

Accounts differ on management's posture during the drive. Working Mass reported that management declined to voluntarily recognize the union, while The Harvard Crimson quoted McFarland saying the union “has not faced any opposition from Lamplighter’s Brewing Co. management thus far” and that “It went really well. I think that management definitely listened to the things we had to say. They acknowledged what we’ve done.”

UFCW Local 1445, which represents more than 11,000 workers in New England, will represent the Lamplighter unit; union materials promoted the campaign with the slogan “Tell Lamplighter that Union Beer Tastes Better.” UFCW International represents more than 1 million workers across the United States and Canada, and Local 1445 president Fernando Lemus noted the local has represented workers in brewery, distillery, and winery industries. The immediate next step is contract bargaining between Lamplighter staff across Broadway and Cambridge Crossing and UFCW Local 1445, where organizers plan to press for the insurance, wage, and scheduling changes they outlined during the campaign.