Colorado’s creative, cultural and service-industry workers look to unions for leverage

Anna McGee has hit a wall. So has her boss.

A 26-year-old front-of-the-house worker at Denver’s Mercury Cafe, McGee joined other employees last month to demand that owner Danny Newman institute changes to what she calls “dehumanizing working conditions” at the Five Points restaurant, including low pay, unpredictable schedules, and an unsafe environment.

Newman doesn’t see it that way. He’s already making efforts to improve working conditions, he said. And there’s no money for big raises, as the business — a focal point of Denver’s poetic arts scene for more than three decades — hasn’t yet turned a profit since he bought it two years ago.

“Danny’s been transparent about that,” McGee acknowledged. “We came back to him and said, ‘We’ll wait five more months for contract negotiations,’ which is what he was asking for, ‘but you have to voluntari...