UNITE HERE Local 2 Statement on the A’s Relocation

Today’s news about the A’s temporary relocation to Sacramento is only the latest chapter in the longer story about billionaire John Fisher and Major League Baseball abandoning Oakland.

UNITE HERE Local 2 represents hundreds of food and beverage workers at the Oakland Coliseum, many of whom have worked at the stadium for over 20 or even 30 years. The majority are African American. These workers have made thousands of game days enjoyable for countless fans, their union wages and benefits have supported the workers’ families and communities, and their work has helped make John Fisher even richer.

It is shameful that Fisher and Major League Baseball are abandoning these workers, this community, and the City of Oakland, one of America’s most diverse baseball cities. Every time a billionaire team owner leaves or threatens to leave a host city in order to line their pockets with hundreds of millions of public dollars, workers and communities are hurt.

Local 2 will support these workers, including by helping them find new jobs after this baseball season, and continue to stand up to the billionaires and corporations who exploit working   people and our communities.

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UNITE HERE Local 2 is the hospitality workers’ union in the San Francisco Bay Area, with 15,000+ members working in hotels, restaurants, food services, stadiums, SFO, and OAK.