A unionization effort at a Central California restaurant has failed to get enough votes to move forward.

Employees at the BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse in Modesto pushed to form a union over frustration about the company's tip-sharing policy. Workers charged that the mandatory policy has sharply cut into their pay.

Workers scheduled the union vote for Sept. 26. Monday, organizers announced that the effort had failed by a 30-57 vote.

"We respect our Modesto team members' decision and are grateful to those who participated in the election," BJ's Restaurants wrote in a statement after the vote.

Labor organizers remained critical of the restaurant chain's management.

"At the same time, I can't help but be disappointed by the way BJ's management willfully spread misinformation about unions and the unionization process and created divisions and mistrust within their own workforce," said Will Kelly, executive director of the North Valley Labor Federation, in a statement.

More than 150 people are employed at that BJ's location, located at the Vintage Faire Mall.

The Modesto location would have been the first of the chain's locations to unionize. BJ's operates more than 200 restaurants across 29 states.