Oracle Park food workers may strike
Food-service workers at the Giants’ ballpark are singing the COVID/health care/low-wages blues, and their sad song could result in a ballpark full of fans with empty stomachs.
The approximately 930 concession workers who work Giants games, represented by the hospitality workers union Unite Here Local 2, are eligible to vote Saturday on whether to authorize the union to call a strike at any time. The vote will be held near Oracle Park prior to the Dodgers-Giants game.
The union gave no indication on when a strike might occur if the workers vote yes, but the Giants are expecting a full house for Sunday’s game against the arch-rival Dodgers.
The workers’ issues are COVID safety, hazard pay, wages and health care. They are employed by Bon Appetit, which contracts with the Giants to provide concessions.
The workers say they haven’t had a raise from their $20.75-per-hour base pay in more than two years, since their last contract expired. Also, employees are required to work 10 events per month to qualify for health care, between Oracle Park and also at the Chase Center, but in some months of the calendar year between the two venues — with baseball season ending and NBA season not yet begun — there are not 10 events for them to work.
The coronovirus pandemic is also an issue. A representative of the union says it asked Bon Appetit for a $3 per hour hazard pay raise, only to be told that the pay wasn’t warranted, stating that the ballpark would be a safe working environment. However, the union claims at least 20 Giants concession workers have been infected with the virus since the stadium reopened, and masking and distancing are not required for fans in foodservice areas and in suites.
“I’m always coming into contact with guests who aren’t wearing masks, and it’s so scary to know that there are so many of us who’ve been infected already,” said Connie Sarmiento, a concession-stand cashier. “We deserve strong safety measures and good affordable health care to take care of us if we get sick. I’m ready to strike because we need our safety, health care and wages.”
Several workers who spoke with The Chronicle before Friday night’s Dodgers-Giants game said wages and health care are their biggest concerns.
Most of the workers declined to be identified, but several said they would vote yes on the strike authorization, and most expressed dissatisfaction with wages.
“We just got back to work, now we gotta make a hard choice,” one worker said. “It’s a tough choice.”
David Wood, a bartender on the Club Level, said he will vote to authorize a strike.
“It seems like they don’t care about the workers as much as they should,” Wood said. “I think there’s a lot of unhappiness — people feeling left out, that the Giants don’t care about them.”
A union spokesperson said that while masks are required in the indoor suites, the requirement is not enforced by the Giants, and workers asking guests to mask up are ignored. The spokesperson said the
Warriors at nearby Chase Center are much more vigilant about enforcing masking and distancing among fans in suites and concession areas.
“The Giants haven’t responded to our concerns about those things,” the Local 2 spokesperson said. “We’ve relayed those concerns through Bon Appetit, which is who we negotiate with. The enforcement has not been there and the communication has not been there . ... There are some really basic things the Giants can do to make it a lot safer.”
The Giants, through their legal department, said the organization would have no comment.