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By

Jackie Varriano

Seattle Times food writer

Workers at the critically acclaimed Ballard restaurant The Walrus and The Carpenter will return to work Friday after ratifying a collective bargaining agreement between Renee Erickson’s Sea Creatures restaurant group and the United Creatures of the Sea labor union.

The agreement was sealed Friday at noon, ending an eight-day strike that began June 18, according to representatives for the union.

While the union represents workers at three of the restaurant group’s brands (The Walrus and The Carpenter, General Porpoise doughnuts and Jeffry’s, formerly Bateau), the contract specifically affects 30 workers at the oyster bar and at the doughnut chain’s locations in Pioneer Square and South Lake Union.

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Sea Creatures is helmed by Erickson, a James Beard Award-winning chef, and business partners Chad Dale, Jeremy Price and Ira Gerlach. The restaurant group released a statement Friday confirming the two-year contract is centered on “a change to The Walrus and The Carpenter’s compensation model.”

Since January 2025, the restaurant group has collected a 22% service charge. The United Creatures of the Sea organizing effort began soon after.

While that entire charge was retained by the company, 50% of the service fee went toward “additional hourly earnings to staff,” according to Sea Creatures management. The service charge was meant to be collected in lieu of tips, although additional gratuity was accepted.

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From 2024

Tips, service fees, oh my: Seattle restaurateurs prepare for another wage hike

Under this new contract, The Walrus will move to a new service charge model with a fee that will not exceed 6%. Workers will receive and retain 100% of tips outside of that service charge.

Additionally, workers at the South Lake Union General Porpoise location will now receive 75 cents from every dollar received from the Amazon coffee program, up from 50 cents on the dollar.

“The whole reason we first unionized was the implementation of the service charge in 2025,” said Jeff Kelley, president of the United Creatures of the Sea union.

From June 23

Staff strike closes The Walrus and The Carpenter, Seattle oyster bar

As a result of the new contract and the decreased service fee, the Sea Creatures statement acknowledges that employees will see “negotiated reductions to base wages, paid time off, wellness benefits, retirement benefits and other employer-funded programs.”

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Still, Kelley is calling it a win.

“We want to encourage other restaurant workers to know this can work,” he said Friday. “The common refrain is, ‘Why don’t you go get another job?’ I think the owning class counts on that, but that’s not what Seattle deserves. They deserve people that want to fight for what’s right. I hope we’ve been an example of that over the past 15 months.”

Negotiations between United Creatures of the Sea and restaurant group management are ongoing at Jeffry’s. While Price said employees voted to decertify this month, a union representative said Friday that employees voted to withdraw recognition of the union but did not officially decertify it.

Sea Creatures brands Lioness, Barnacle, Westward, Lowlander Brewing, Willmott’s Ghost, Deep Dive, Mio Oh Mio and Un Po Tipsy remain nonunionized.

Jackie Varriano: Jackie Varriano is a food writer at The Seattle Times who covers neighborhood restaurants around Western Washington, reporting on the ways food and communities intersect.

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