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Employees at the Twin Cities’ First Avenue music venues have moved to unionize.   

About 200 bartenders, ticket collectors and floor managers working at First Avenue’s seven locations signed a petition asking First Ave to recognize their union, which the company did. 

The employees are asking for better pay, better training and more notice in scheduling shifts.  

Pauli DeMaris has been working at First Avenue for eighteen years. He mostly bartends now, though employees work different kinds of shifts, so he also supervises floor staff.  

“First Ave has the best clubs in the cities,” DeMaris said. “We want the clubs to stay the best for years to come, and I think giving us a real voice is the best way to do that.”  

DeMaris said his pay had gone up before the COVID-19 pandemic started. Then, in 2020, First Avenue shut down and furloughed its workers. When they came back, they were all paid minimum wage: $15 an hour in Minneapolis and St. Paul.  

Workers earn tips on some shifts, but not others, and DeMaris said the amount he makes in tips varies a lot by venue and show. He said the sporadic tips and low wages aren’t enough to make ends meet.   

Another ask is for better scheduling practices. Right now, they get their schedules as late as four days in advance of a shift. They said they want more notice so they can plan ahead more.  

Workers want better training, too. Maddy Loch has been working at First Avenue clubs for a year. She said she had to learn how to do her job on the fly, and that it’s hard to figure out whether or not she’s doing a good job.  

“I’ve only recently felt confident in the roles I work. It shouldn’t have taken me this long to feel confident in the job I’m doing,” Loch said. “Part of the reason I wanted to organize was to make sure that everyone has training and support that they need to do their job well.” 

Workers sought help with unionizing from the Restaurant Opportunities Center of Minnesota, a nonprofit that trains service industry workers in organizing and learning their rights.  

The new First Avenue union will join UNITE HERE Local 17, Minnesota’s hospitality workers’ union.  

In a statement Friday, First Avenue Productions President and CEO Dayna Frank said the company will voluntarily recognize the union.  

“Behind our venues are the people who bring in artists and make the concerts magical, they are Minnesotans who recognize beauty and know how to help artists showcase it,” she said. “So when bartenders, service and event staff expressed their desire to form a union, there was only one answer, which is why we will voluntarily recognize the union, and are committed to bargaining in good faith.” 

DeMaris said he hopes the union can help his fellow workers. He wanted to unionize for the same reason he still wants to work there: a love of First Avenue.  

“It’s my love of music, my love of all my coworkers, and the fact that we get to throw the best party in town every night that we open,” DeMaris said. “It’s an amazing place, and we are a huge part of how that place gets operated, so we just want to feel the love that we put into it.” 

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Estelle Timar-Wilcox

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About 200 bartenders, ticket-collectors, and floor managers working at First Avenue’s seven locations moved to unionize. They’re asking for better pay, better training and more notice in scheduling shifts.  

Employees at all seven First Avenue music venues unionize

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