According to union documents and allegations shared with 48hills:

Aramark took over the food concessions at Oracle Park in February. Despite the Giants having a “succession agreement” with Local 2 that our collective bargaining agreement should remain in effect when the Giants change contractors, Aramark refused to honor our Local 2 contract until July. From February to July, and even now, they seem to be picking and choosing which parts of our contract they will honor.

According to union documents and allegations shared with 48hills:

—Regular ballpark workers are required to have health insurance, but Aramark has twice delayed its payments and has not provided any health insurance at all for many workers, particularly those who work for Aramark at the Colisuem in Oakland, where the A’s played their last home games. (The contract states that health insurance is paid on a monthly basis, meaning a worker who works ten shifts in April would be eligible for health insurance in June. If Aramark doesn’t pay, that worker’s health insurance is in jeopardy.) I’ve talked to many workers at times this season who have no health insurance and who have never had health insurance.

—We were supposed to get a $1.50 hourly raise at the beginning of April. Aramark gave us 75 cents. Many workers were also paid less than the contracted rate for their job classification. Some Bon Appetit employees weren’t allowed to work for weeks into the season when Aramark took over. In these times of rampant inflation, that hurts.

—Many employees are questioning whether guests’ tip money, which they sign for with credit and debit cards, is being distributed accurately and completely. Aramark has so far ignored a union request to give us access to raw tip data.

—Aramark deducted Local 2 dues money from our paychecks in accordance with the Local 2 contract, but then held onto that dues money for several weeks before forwarding it to the union. This resulted in many workers receiving letters from Local 2 stating that they were behind on their dues. Aramark also deducted dues money from workers who paid their dues directly to the union and did not authorize the dues deductions.

The union has demanded an independent audit of Aramark’s payroll procedures, but Aramark has so far ignored the request.

But these money issues are just the tip of the iceberg.

What is truly alarming is that Aramark is severely understaffed at the counters, even on busy days, which often results in difficult and dangerous pacing. Still, many employees who signed up for work had their shifts canceled, sometimes just hours before their shifts. Staffing outside of seniority has become an issue. There is a hiring hall in District 2, but Aramark rarely calls the hiring hall for workers.

Meanwhile, we have seen non-unionized workers from various organizations step in to fill vacant positions.

What is going on here?

Calls for strikes

On June 14, more than 250 stadium workers gathered at the International Port and Warehouse Union hall near the stadium at the urging of Local 2 leadership to talk about our problems and plan action. The anger was palpable. Several workers demanded that the union organize a strike. The union officials in charge had some difficulty maintaining order at the meeting. But we eventually planned an action that we hoped would get the full attention of Aramark and the Giants.

And so on June 28, just before a Giants-Dodgers game, a standing-room-sized group of more than 150 Local 2 employees gathered in our break room and called on Aramark’s human relations manager. We then spent nearly an hour telling the manager our many complaints about Aramark’s disrespect. There were planned speeches as well as spontaneous calls from the ranks, including one employee battling cancer who spoke passionately about what losing his health insurance meant to him.

After this action, Aramark finally accepted our collective bargaining agreement and agreed in principle to pay us full raises. On July 24, we received our first full raises in our paychecks. Many—but not all—workers received back pay for the missing raises. But just four days after our action, Aramark sent an email to the buffet staff thanking them for “all our hard work thus far” and saying they would be laying off workers from their regular buffets and “begin rotating staff to various buffets” to “make sure everyone is familiar with our different locations and various concepts.”

This was announced without any consultation with the union, despite federal law requiring employers to attempt to negotiate such changes to working conditions. Many workers saw this as retaliation for our action on June 28. In response, the union threatened to file a legal challenge with the National Labor Relations Board. After some delay, Aramark began moving many workers around like pawns on a chessboard in its latest home stand, further fueling the fire already burning in the ballpark. Many other breach of contract issues and complaints remain unresolved.

Where Are the Giants?

Throughout all of this chaos, the Giants remained silent. They certainly could not have been unaware of Aramark’s reputation for ignoring its contractual obligations and the struggles of Oracle Park employees with Aramark.

For example, it was widely reported that Aramark’s contract with Crater Lake National Park was terminated after it was accused of, among many other violations, serving improperly cooked food, operating “dirty kitchens,” and failing to properly train food service staff; allowing “major diesel fuel spills” into Crater Lake and raw sewage overflows in the park; failing to perform routine maintenance on visitor and employee buildings; charging employees hundreds of dollars a month to live in “dated” and filthy dormitories, sometimes without heat or electricity; failing to report serious visitor injuries; and turning a blind eye to sexual assault and harassment of employees. According to one employee, it was a place with “zero policies, zero rules and regulations.” Twilight Zone.”

Why would the Giants bring such a company to San Francisco? And why have the Giants remained silent throughout all of the chaos this season?

It’s safe to say that this is all about money, and money is the lifeblood of Major League Baseball in America.

Local 2’s stadium contract expires April 1, 2025, the start of next baseball season. The last time we negotiated a new contract in 2021, we took a strike vote and were prepared to strike during the playoffs. Our employer at the time, Bon Appetit, caved and we won a great contract.

Are the giants trying to roll back our collective bargaining gains and make Aramark the bad guy?

In my opinion, the answer is yes.

In the past, Local 2 let the stadium contract expire without a fight. Then we worked for several years on an expired contract and never got a raise. We tolerated that during times of low inflation, but it is doubtful that stadium workers would tolerate working for a disrespectful company like Aramark without a raise while inflation eats away at our livelihood.

The slogan of the labor movement once was: NO CONTRACT NO JOBThe labor movement is showing signs of increasing militancy and organization these days, including among stadium workers.

The opening day of the next season is April 4, 2025.

Marc Norton joined Local 2 in 1976. He worked as a dishwasher, waiter, cook and doorman. He has been a cashier at the Giants stadium since 2013. His website is at MarcNortonOnline.wordpress.com.