By COOPER BARD

Workers at the three major sports venues in Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field, the Wells Fargo Center, and Citizens Bank Park) have voted to authorize a strike against Aramark, the food-service provider. The workers, represented by UNITEHERE Local 274, are now on strike watch.

The primary demands of the workers are for uniform wages that are adjusted to inflation across all three of the sports facilities, plus year-round health-care benefits. Out of nearly 2500 workers at the sports complex, only a few dozen actually receive health-care benefits.

The strike votes were very strong. The vote at Lincoln Financial Field (where the Eagles play) gained 84% support, while the vote of the Aramark workers at Citizens Bank Park (home of the Phillies) received 83% approval.

“One job should be enough!”

The three facilities employ large numbers of so-called “part-time” laborers under very exploitative contracts, which include limits on available health-care benefits. Aramark employs the workers under a different contract at each sports venue, even though many of the workers work seasonally at all three places. Those workers actually perform full-time work, but because of the company’s trickery, they are on the books as working two or three “part-time” jobs, which do not qualify for full-time health-care benefits.

The union is demanding that workers who put in 750 hours across the three sports facilities receive full-time benefits, while Aramark is insisting on a minimum of 1500 hours. At pre-strike informational picket lines, workers have chanted, “One job should be enough! Not two or three!”

Naturally, sales of concessions at the
sports stadiums are very profitable. As the strikewatch page for the local says: “Our employer Aramark reported $18 billion in revenue in 2023, but many of us can’t afford health insurance. We’re standing up for health care and family-sustaining wages that adjust for inflation.”

Many companies, like Aramark, make extra profits when wages fail to keep pace with the rise in prices of basic needs like rent, gas, and groceries. In this way, although a company does not reduce the wages paid out to workers in literal dollar amounts, it is in fact paying them a functionally lower wage from the point of view of purchasing power. Thus, the demand of the workers for wages that are adjusted to inflation is completely reasonable.

Workers are in motion

UNITEHERE Local 274 had made its intentions and demands clear to the bosses on numerous occasions. Earlier this year, the Aramark workers at the Wells Fargo Center had staged a two-day strike starting on April 9, and a three-day strike started again on April 25, after the company offered a measly 25-cent pay increase. In June, workers picketed outside Aramark’s national headquarters building in Philadelphia, where they were joined by members of other unions from around the region. On July 31, the workers at Citizens Bank Park and Lincoln Financial Field rejected Aramark’s latest contract offer by a whopping 93%.

Local 274 held an Aug. 23 informational picket about the workers’ grievances outside Citizens Bank Park during a Bruce Springsteen concert in Philadelphia, as the artist has often made pro-worker statements. Workers from other unions (such as the teachers) and political organizations (DSA, Workers’ Voice, etc.) joined the picket line. UNITEHERE also marched proudly in the Philadelphia Labor Day Parade shortly after the vote at Citizens Bank Park. Now that the workers at all three sports facilities have officially joined the strike pledge, things are heating up. All labor should actively support the Aramark workers and Local 274!

Photo: UNITEHERE union members march in Philadelphia on Labor Day. (UNITEHERE Local 274 / Facebook)