Editor’s note: This story was edited to include recent developments involving the recognition of The SunTrapp workers’ union.
Five weeks after The SunTrapp employees formed a union and requested the owner recognize their union, the historic bar in Salt Lake City announced that it would be closed indefinitely on Friday, Oct. 31.
“While we remain hopeful that we can find a path forward for the SunTrapp, right now, I am not certain what the path looks like,” management wrote in an Instagram post.
There has been much back and forth since the workers at the bar delivered a letter to the owner, Mary Peterson, on Sep. 26, asking to partner with them by voluntarily recognizing their union, SunTrapp Workers Unite.
SunTrapp Workers Unite
SWU is the collective voice of bar employees at The SunTrapp in Salt Lake City. They are affiliated with the Communications Workers of America Local 7765, which also represents workers at the University of Utah and Utah State University.
“We want The SunTrapp to thrive and be the best safe space it could be for the community and the devoted staff,” SWU wrote in an Instagram post the day of the announcement.
Natalie Jankowski, SunTrapp’s lead bartender and member of the SWU organizing committee, said workers on strike want to preserve the historic bar and are invested in safeguarding The SunTrapp’s legacy.
“[This] was something we wanted to go for in order for the longevity of the bar and for security,” Jankowski said. “A lot of people are scared because it’s being shut down. This is an amazing space. And the thing that I want to convey to most is that we want this [open].”
A retaliation campaign by the owner started soon after, according to Derek Petersen, an administrative assistant at The SunTrapp.
“After the union presented their letter of recognition to Mary, she obviously met them immediately with resistance, claimed that she was anti-union, claimed that she could just fire them all, which is not true, but she did end up doing that,” said Petersen.
Once all the employees were rehired, Petersen said Mary Peterson started implementing policies that felt entrapping.
“One of our employees was banned from her desk in the office [and] was required to be within camera view at all times during work. Policies that never had clear disciplinary procedures or steps were used to give employees final write-ups that had never received write-ups before,” Petersen said. “That culminated in our head security guard being fired for a litany of reasons listed in the letter, but mainly tardiness. And tardiness was the only policy she’d ever laid out, and it required four warnings written before termination. And this, I think, was just his second, so that wasn’t followed.”
In an Instagram post on Oct. 3, SWU wrote: “We never wanted things to end up this way and we tried everything in our power to avoid it. That being said, our work environment has become wholly unsurvivable. We have no choice but to strike until owner Mary Peterson apologizes for this past week’s treatment and agrees to treat us with the most basic level of respect so that we can continue to fight for the working conditions we deserve.”
SWU held six pickets each Friday and Saturday night for four weeks leading up to the Oct. 31 closure, with hundreds of supporters in attendance.
Petersen disagreed with the sudden closing of the bar rather than a compromise for solutions.
“It wasn’t the right move for the community and I don’t think it was the right move for The SunTrapp at all,” Petersen said.
The closure was a surprise to the workers and community that showed up on Halloween ready to picket. Vanessa Huertas, who worked as a barback and as security at SunTrapp before going on strike, said the closure felt sudden.
“I don’t know how to feel about it, Halloween is a big night for the bar,” Huertas said that evening. “It’s supposed to be a big party.”
Previous closure
The unexpected announcement on Halloween is not the only time the bar has closed its doors.
Mary Peterson, who was previously the bar’s accountant, acquired the bar after it closed without explanation in January 2024.
“I just felt like it would be such a shame for something that has been in the community for so long to be closed,” Peterson said previously.
“Utah’s most iconic gay bar” was founded under the name The Sun Tavern in 1973 by Joe Redburn, according to The SunTrapp’s website.
“Just as a suntrap is a space that captures light and warmth, fostering growth and vitality, The Sun Tavern, now known as The Suntrapp, has continued to be a haven for its patrons for over 50 years,” the website reads.
Progress being made
According to CWA Local 7765, SunTrapp ownership recently agreed to voluntary recognition of the union and tentatively reopened the bar on Wednesday, Dec. 2.
Despite the weeks of uncertainty and tension surrounding the strike and closure, the bar employees see a future for SunTrapp.
“I think no matter what, the community is going to step up. And no matter who it is, we’re all in it together,” Jankowski said prior to the new agreement.
“I think that the community cares enough about this space to not let it die. I’m sure in some form, an iteration of SunTrapp will return to the community,” Petersen added.
