Red Sox fans are being asked to buy food and drinks outside of Fenway before turning out for games, as ballpark concession workers are ready to take to the picket line.
Aramark employees and members of UNITE HERE Local 26 will announce their strike dates on Wednesday, before the Red Sox return home on Friday to take on the Dodgers this weekend.
This comes after Aramark employees at Fenway Park and MGM Music Hall voted by 95% to authorize a strike last month. The union represents cashiers, cooks, barbacks, souvenir vendors, utility workers, and other staff at the park and its neighboring music venue.
“Since then, hundreds of workers have signed up for strike benefits and dozens have been trained as picket captains,” the union stated on Tuesday. “Aramark and the Union did not make significant progress towards an agreement during their latest bargaining session, which took place last week.
“As a result,” it added, “Fenway workers are ready to go on strike for the first time in the 113-year-old history of America’s favorite ballpark.”
Workers say they are “fighting” for four “key demands” in their contract, which expired on Dec. 31, 2024. They include increased wages, “guardrails on automation,” better tipping for Premium workers, who serve season ticket holders and special guests, and scheduling that “respects workers’ seniority.”
Union president Carlos Aramayo has highlighted how Local 26 hotel workers won raises that increased hourly pay $10 last year, while university dining workers are set to earn at least $30 per hour by 2028.
“There’s no reason for Fenway workers to be left behind,” he stated in a release last month. “They deserve raises and respect!”
Local 26 has pointed to how a cashier earns $18.52 an hour at Fenway, where a beer costs $10.79, while those who work at Marlins Park in Miami make $21.25 an hour, but beers there go for $5.14
“During the strike, UNITE HERE Local 26 is asking the public to attend games as usual,” the union stated Tuesday, “but to support the strikers by not purchasing any food or drinks from inside the ballpark.”
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