El Adobe Restaurant Picketed by Workers

Employees picketed the historic El Adobe restaurant in San Juan Capistrano on Saturday in a labor dispute with owner Richard O’Neill, former state chairman of the Democratic Party.

“This is a historic landmark, and it seems their wage scales are as antiquated as the building,” said Steve Beyer, spokesman for Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 681, which represents the picketing workers.

The 79 El Adobe employees have worked without a contract since March 10 and continue to negotiate for a new pact, Beyer said. Although the union members have voted to authorize a strike, Beyer said the union does not plan one.

“They can’t afford to strike,” Beyer said. “The wages they make do not allow them to put any money away.”

But restaurant workers, ranging from busboys to bartenders, were urging customers not to eat there Saturday.

O’Neill, a rancher and restaurant owner who is no longer in political office, said the picketing “is bound to hurt the restaurant, but they’d have to do that every day to make a difference.”

Tough to Compete

O’Neill said that the restaurant has had union employees for at least 30 years but that numerous non-union restaurants springing up in southern Orange County make it tough to compete for business.

El Adobe manager Elias Meza said: “There are a lot of new restaurants. There are going to be more . . . coming in, and to my knowledge none of them are going to be union.”

Beyer claimed O’Neill “told his lawyer to get rid of the union. You would expect a former state Democratic Party chairman to have sympathy for working people,” he said.

But O’Neill said: “We’re not trying to throw anybody out. It’s a continuous negotiation.”

Meza also denied the union’s allegation that the restaurant’s negotiator has threatened to eliminate health and pension benefits.

“It should not have gone this far,” Meza said of the picketing. “We’ve given in to a lot of their (union) demands. . . . We’re not trying to be a union buster. No, we’re not trying to take their medical benefits away.

“All we’re trying to do is stay open,” Meza said. “Our lawyers are continuing to meet and continuing to negotiate. We’re not at a dead end here.”

Many employees, including some with 19 years’ experience, earn minimum wages, Beyer said. The union is seeking raises of up to $2 an hour for the workers, some of whom are paid $6 an hour now, he said.