Bottlerocket Social Hall hosting rockin’ fundraiser for striking workers

Chris Copen comes by his affinity for unions honestly. His grandfather’s union laid the groundwork that allowed him to eventually retire comfortably, and his father currently belongs to a teachers union.

“The power of working people working together always made sense to me,” said Copen, the owner of Bottlerocket Social Hall in Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood.

Copen is a big union supporter — and “by extension, the bar is too,” he said. That’s why he jumped at the chance to help striking Pittsburgh Post-Gazette employees in their fight to expose and rectify the Post-Gazette ownership’s alleged unfair labor practices.

On Wednesday, Bottlerocket Social Hall will host “Stop the Presses: A PG Strike Fundraiser,” an evening of music and revelry directly benefiting the Guild’s strike efforts. There will be food catered by fellow Allentown business Forma Pasta, a special cocktail provided by the Strip District’s Kingfly Spirits, and the joint will be jumping from 6-11 p.m. thanks to local DJ group Jellyfish and musical performances from Kenny Stockard, Chet Vincent, and Andre Costello & Forestry Division.

Tickets are available for $10 via Eventbrite. All proceeds and donations from this event will go toward the Pittsburgh Striker Fund, which was set up to help striking Post-Gazette employees and their families get by financially during this period of professional uncertainty.

Hours after Post-Gazette newsroom workers walked out on Oct. 18 — joining other striking workers in production, mailing, transportation and advertising — Bottlerocket declared via Twitter that “if you are a PG employee currently on strike, your first drink is on us.” Copen said that a few Guild members have taken advantage of that deal and that the offer still stands.

Supporting unions has “always been part of the fabric of the bar,” Copen said, which he said fits his establishment’s 1970s-themed aesthetic that includes a few old United Steelworkers posters hung over the bar area. He said that none of the talent who will be on hand Wednesday night or anyone on Bottlerocket’s staff expressed any concerns about participating in a union fundraiser.

“It was just a good way to act our values,” he said of hosting an event like this. “Labor unions are having a moment right now. I’m really excited for Wednesday to hopefully bring that support in a different context than just standing on a picket line.”

One of the artists providing the entertainment for this fundraiser is Andre Costello, an Ellwood City native, Brookline resident and frontman of Andre Costello & Forestry Division, a rock ‘n’ roll outfit that used to go by the name Andre Costello and the Cool Minors. Over the past decade, his band has played everywhere from houses to theaters to the Three Rivers Arts Festival. He’s no stranger to performing in a setting like Bottlerocket.

“Small venues like that, we thrive in,” Costello said. “It’ll be an intimate rock ‘n’ roll show. There’ll be a lot of energy.”

This isn’t Costello’s first rodeo in terms of supporting labor rights in Pittsburgh. The former Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh teen specialist helped out with grassroots organizing during library employees’ campaign to unionize. He has no reservations about publicly standing in solidarity with striking Post-Gazette workers.

“I think that the cause of independent journalism is one of the most important things,” he said. “If you have your employees being disenfranchised and wanting to leave, that would be a failure of the publication. … You need rights. So I’m here to support that in any way I can.”

Costello said he’s excited to be performing at an event where folks will get to “support your local heroes in journalism” while also listening to three Pittsburgh-based bands and a renowned local DJ group.

Bottlerocket has been open since June, and Copen said it’s been heartening watching his business quickly become “part of the neighborhood and city.” He would love to see yinzers come out in full force Wednesday night, and he hopes striking Post-Gazette workers will be encouraged when they see everyone at Bottlerocket having fun while advocating for their cause.

“It’s going to be a really great night with some of the best entertainment in the city, and you get to support people who are working for you and the public in general in a very unheralded way,” Copen said. “Not just the journalists, but the people who physically print and deliver your newspaper. … You want to support your neighbors, and this is a great way to support your neighbors.”