Airport Workers at SFO Authorize Strike by 99.7% Vote
MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022
Contact: Ted Waechter [email protected] 919-636-1124
SFO Airport Workers to Protest Following Strike Vote
Food Service Workers at San Francisco Intl. Airport Announce Overwhelming Vote to Prepare for Strike
WHO: Hundreds of workers at food and beverage outlets at SFO – including cashiers, baristas, servers, bartenders, cooks, dishwashers, and more. They are members of the hospitality workers’ union UNITE HERE Local 2.
WHEN: Thursday, August 18, 1pm-5pm
WHAT: Major protest over health care and wages. This is the first protest at SFO since workers voted to authorize a strike. (Please note: This a protest, not a work stoppage or strike.)
WHERE: Terminal 3 departures level. Contact Ted at 919-636-1124 when you arrive.
VISUALS: Airport food service workers picketing in uniform, holding signs that say, “One Job Should Be Enough.”
WHY: Food service workers at SFO say they’re tired of working two or even three jobs to survive – and are ready to strike for better pay and health care.
After eight months of fruitless negotiations, workers voted on Wednesday August 10 to authorize a strike by 99.7%. This is workers’ first protest since the strike vote, and they hope it will persuade employers to reach a deal for living wages and affordable health care. (Please note: Thursday’s event is a protest, not a work stoppage or strike.)
B-roll and photos of the strike vote are available for download here.
Airport food service workers say their jobs aren’t enough to keep up with the cost of living – while airline fares and menu prices soar. They say negotiations over wages and health care have dragged on long enough.
“I’m a single mom living paycheck-to-paycheck,” said Margaret Manalo, a lounge attendant at SFO for 7 years. “It’s my first time getting involved with the union and getting ready to strike, because I want to push the employers to give us the wages and health care we need. One job should be enough to have a good life and provide food for your family.”
“You shouldn’t have to strike for basic things like a good job and affordable health care, but workers at SFO are ready if that’s what it takes,” said Anand Singh, President of UNITE HERE Local 2. “After months of negotiations, employers still aren’t taking workers seriously, and we’re done with it.”
Marriott hotel workers with the same union won raises and better health care after a two-month strike in 2018.
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UNITE HERE Local 2 is the hospitality workers’ union in San Francisco, San Mateo County, and the East and North Bay, representing over 15,000 workers at SFO and OAK and in hotels, restaurants, tech cafeterias, sports stadiums, and more.