The Pizza Man Henry controversy leads to employee strikes
A group of Pizza Man employees on Downer Avenue coordinated a strike after they said persistent plumbing problems at Pizzeria Henry’s, the bar next door, were causing major damage.
MILWAUKE – A group of Pizza Man employees on Downer Avenue coordinated a strike after they said persistent plumbing problems at Pizzeria Henry’s, the bar next door, were causing major damage.
A normally busy corner of Downer and Belleview went silent on Tuesday, September 28th.
“They did temporary repairs to stop the leak, but they kept going over and over again,” said Samantha Schoenwalder, a former Pizza Man employee.
Schönwalder, who worked at Pizza Man for about three years, said ongoing problems with the plumbing coming from the kitchen of the pizza shop upstairs are causing damage to Henrys, the bar and grill next door. Fed up with Jackson Schuh, she gathered a group of colleagues who texted their managers on Thursday, September 23rd.
“Henry’s is a small company that doesn’t deserve this treatment,” said Schuh. “We just want our voices to be heard and problems solved.”
At that time, according to Schuh and Schönwalder, the people who did not appear were dismissed.
“Most of us received a call from our GM that we had voluntarily resigned,” said Schönwalder.
The next day, the company called a meeting to improve the situation. Some employees took their jobs back. Others go forever.
“Put tears in my eyes … some of them I don’t even know.”
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Nader Pakroo, the owner of Henry’s, said he was moved by their support.
“Put tears in my eyes,” said Pakroo. “I don’t even know some of them.”
Pakroo told FOX6 News that the plumbing issues are nothing new and shared videos from 2014, 2018, June 2021 and most recently last week.
“In those tough times we’ve been through in recent years, that was the last thing we needed,” said Pakroo.
The doors to the pizzeria were locked on Tuesday.
FOX6 News left several messages on its parent company, F Street Hospitality, but received no response. Outside is an apology for: “Any inconvenience during the plumbing problem” and a notice that the restaurant will be closed for repairs on Tuesday.
“I just hope this is the last time we have to go through something like this,” said Pakroo. “Let’s wait and see.”
Pakroo says he was told the problem was caused by a drain on one of the restaurant’s kitchen appliances. He was invited upstairs on Tuesday and said “extensive work” was being done to resolve the issue.
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