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HMS HOST

PHXStrike Alert: HMS Host Locations to Avoid at PHX Sky Harbor Airport

PHX HMS Host locations to avoid during #PHXStrike

Call or email HMS Host

(877) 672-7467

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HMS Host locations to avoid

ALL Starbucks outlets, Barrio Café, Blanco’s Tacos, Cowboy Ciao, Dilly’s Deli, LGO Marketplace, Chelsea’s Kitchen, American Airlines Admiral’s Club lounges, Olive & Ivy, Focaccia Florentina, Shake Shack, San Tan Brewery, Zin Burger

HMS Host workers are striking for fair raises, affordable health insurance, protections for workers’ tips, a company-paid retirement contribution, and strong contract language for equal opportunity and protection from discrimination

 

BREAKING: Sky Harbor HMS Host Workers Begin Indefinite Strike Monday 

Phoenix airport concessions workers announce walkout ahead of the busiest travel week of the year 

Phoenix – HMS Host workers at Sky Harbor Airport will strike early Monday morning. The strike will impact travelers arriving and departing in both Terminals 3 and 4.

HMS Host workers make up the largest group of food concessions workers at the Phoenix airport. HMS Host is the single largest concessionaire at Sky Harbor Airport, employing hundreds of workers in over two dozen restaurant and coffee shop outlets. 

Host operates all Starbucks coffee shops at the airport and popular restaurants such as Barrio Cafe, Chelsea’s Kitchen, and SanTan Brewery. 

Workers are demanding a new, comprehensive contract with fair raises, affordable health insurance, a company-paid retirement contribution, protections for workers’ tips, and strong contract language for equal opportunity and protection from discrimination. Workers with UNITE HERE Local 11 have been in negotiations with HMS Host since 2017. Delays in settling a contract mean delays in wage increases and official COVID safety protocols during a global pandemic. 

After almost four years of negotiations and no contract, workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize the strike Thursday. 

Workers are prepared to strike indefinitely until HMS Host agrees to settle a contract that meets their demands. 

 

HMS Host Workers Vote 97% to Strike

STRIKE ALERT: Ahead of Busy Travel Season, Sky Harbor HMS Host Workers Vote 97% to Authorize Strike

BREAKING NEWS: 11/19/2021

Phoenix airport concessions workers may announce an indefinite walkout any day following overwhelming vote in favor of strike

Phoenix: HMS Host workers at Sky Harbor Airport voted 97% Thursday in favor of authorizing a strike. The authorization comes just one week before the Thanksgiving holiday, after almost four years of negotiations and no contract. Workers have not yet announced a date for the strike to begin.

HMS Host is the single largest concessionaire at Sky Harbor Airport employing hundreds of workers in over two dozen restaurant and coffee shop outlets. A strike would impact travelers arriving and departing in both Terminal 3 and 4.

“We are ready to do whatever it takes for however long it takes to win what we deserve: fair raises, health insurance that we can actually afford, and a pension,” said barista Victoria Stahl. “There is no reason that HMS Host cannot do these things. It’s disrespectful of the hard work that my coworkers and I have put in through the pandemic. They’ve rejected our proposals at the bargaining table and if this is what we need to do for them to listen, we’re ready.”

Workers are demanding a new, comprehensive contract with fair raises, affordable health insurance, a company-paid retirement contribution, protections for workers’ tips, and strong contract language for equal opportunity and protection from discrimination. Workers with UNITE HERE Local 11 have been in negotiations with HMS Host since 2017. Delays in settling a contract mean delays in wage increases and official COVID safety protocols during a global pandemic.

“I voted yes to authorize a strike because I have worked for HMS Host for 27 years and I still don’t have a pension,” said cook Santos Mojica. “I want to know that I will be able to afford to retire in dignity when I can no longer work.”

“I voted yes to authorize a strike because I spend over $350 a month for health insurance and my medication. It isn’t fair that I have to go to Mexico for medical treatment that the company insurance plan won’t cover. Host still hasn’t agreed in bargaining to make health insurance affordable for us and our families. I don’t want to see my raises spent to keep up with the rising cost of my insurance. That isn’t right,” said Lucia Salinas, a cook for 17 years with HMS Host.

Relief for Workers, Not Billionaire Corporations Like HMS Host

Statement by UNITE HERE Local 11 on Los Angeles World Airports Board of Airport Commissioners vote to accept $36.78 million in an American Rescue Plan Act concessionaire relief grant at the July 8, 2021 Special Meeting

HMS Host LAX workers and Ron Herrera outside Los Angeles City HallLos Angeles–Los Angeles World Airport staff have recommended that the Board of Airport Commissioners vote to accept federal grant offers for American Rescue Plan program funds at their special meeting on July 8, 2021. The Federal Aviation Administration allocated $36,785,751 for concessionaire relief at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). UNITE HERE Local 11 members at HMS Host demand that, should LAWA accept federal aid, it must require concessionaires like billionaire firm HMS Host to direct all relief to the workers that have struggled through the pandemic.

LAWA extended rent relief twice during the pandemic, providing minimum annual guarantee waivers and 24-month lease extensions for concessionaires like HMS Host. HMS Host is the largest airport concessionaire in North America and operates approximately 47% of all food and beverage concessions at LAX. UNITE HERE Local 11 estimates that because of LAWA’s actions, HMS Host escaped paying more than $4 million in rent between April 2020 and March 2021 for their two direct contracts. This does not include additional relief from the terminal concession manager, URW Airports, which URW passed down to sub-tenants like HMS Host.

Meanwhile, hundreds of HMS Host workers were laid off at the start of the pandemic and many are still waiting to return to their jobs.

HMS Host is a wealthy corporation, whose parent company, Autogrill, is owned by Italian billionaires through a holding company with a net asset value of $12.9 billion as of December 31, 2020. The airport provided more than enough relief throughout the pandemic and concessionaires like HMS Host must prioritize supporting airport workers. Domestic passenger traffic at LAX for May 2021 is at 61% of May 2019, before the pandemic. According to TSA screening numbers, travel peaked nationwide last week leading up to Independence Day with screening numbers exceeding 2019 levels. With travel recovering and significant aid already given to the firm, we believe HMS Host does not need nor does it deserve any additional relief from the American Rescue Plan Act concessionaire relief grant offered to LAX.

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What Labor Shortage? LAX Employees Demand Airport’s Biggest Concessionaire Recall Laid Off Workers

HMS Host again faces employee protest as workers remain on layoff in the wake of subcontracting

L.A.’s airport authority has granted the company millions in rent relief

Los Angeles: HMS Host workers at LAX protested Wednesday to demand that the airport’s largest food and retail concessions employer stop outsourcing food preparation work and allow them to return to their jobs.

LAX airport workers protest claims of labor shortages while workers remain on layoff

UNITE HERE Local 11 alleges that HMS Host outsourced work that is typically done by union members, purchasing products such as salads and wraps from an outside vendor to sell at its LAX sites. The Union asserts this has resulted in lost work opportunities for HMS Host workers.

HMS Host Executive Vice President Derryl Benton recently claimed that HMS Host currently has 4,400 job openings around the country. Meanwhile, most HMS Host workers at LAX remain on layoff and say they don’t know when HMS Host will allow them to return to work.

HMS Host is the largest airport concessionaire in North America. In 2020, the city’s airport authority LAWA authorized waivers that enabled HMS Host to escape paying in excess of $4 million in contractually-obligated rent, according to estimates by UNITE HERE Local 11. In addition, LAWA granted HMS Host valuable two-year extensions on their direct contracts at LAX. Italian billionaires own HMS Host’s parent company Autogrill through a holding corporation, Edizione, which had a net asset value of $14.98 billion as of December 2019.

HMS Host workers at LAX are over 90% people of color (and over 20% Black) and live in the communities hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of its LAX workforce remains laid off.