DAVID BORG FROM THE TEMPE MISSION PALMS
“Because thats what we have to do, that’s at the heart of this movement, fighting for our community.” David Borg is a Shop Steward at the Tempe Mission palms in Tempe, AZ.
STRIKE ALERT: Hundreds of Food and Beverage Workers at Sky Harbor Airport Walk Out Over Contract Dispute
Phoenix, AZ – Hundreds of food and beverage workers employed by SSP America at Sky Harbor Airport walk out on strike. Cashiers, cooks, bartenders, servers, dishwashers, and baristas from well-known airport eateries, such as Matt’s Big Breakfast, Pita Jungle, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Four Peaks Brewing Co., are on strike for better wages and benefits and plan to hold picket lines at the terminals.
SSP America is contracted by the City of Phoenix to operate food and beverage concessions at the city-owned airport. The contractor employs over 400 workers in both terminals, both pre-and post-security.
Workers’ collective bargaining agreement with SSP America expired on May 31st. Despite the union’s proposals during negotiations, the company has not made significant movement on much-needed wage increases, health insurance contributions, and working conditions.
Last month, SSP America was also the subject of two complaints with the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH) reporting what appeared to be rats at Dunkin’ Donuts and cockroaches at Matt’s Big Breakfast and Pei Wei. Per their lease contract with the City of Phoenix, SSP America is responsible for exterminating and preventing the presence of rodents and other vermin within the premises.
In addition, workers filed multiple federal labor charges against SSP America alleging unlawful disciplinary actions, unilateral changes, and unlawful surveillance.
Workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 11, voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike based on the company’s alleged unfair labor practices and inadequate contract offers on September 1st.
Phoenix Convention Center Ratifies a New Contract
Phoenix Convention Center employees ratified a great contract with Aramark on March 24th with victories like affordable & high-quality union health insurance, Catering Service Workers are up to $20/ hr, and over $4 in raises for all classifications by Feb 2025.
2022 ARIZONA MIDTERMS THANK YOU VIDEO
As the largest field operation in Arizona, UNITE HERE Local 11 and Worker Power were crucial in bringing Senator Kelly and Governor Hobbs over the finish line. Our 400 canvassers were hard at work knocking on over 750,000 doors since late summer, and talking to 120,000 voters. Thank you to everyone who joined us.
Laura Banuet Canvassing in Arizona
In 2022, HMS HOST Cashier at LAX Lara Banuet went to Arizona to knock on doors and fight for our democracy.
Ana Diaz Canvassing in Arizona
In Arizona, Worker Power and UNITE HERE Local 11 knocked on 750,000 doors and contacted 120,000 voters with 400 canvassers by election day on the ground across Maricopa county, advocating for candidates U.S. Senator Mark Kelly, Katie Hobbs, Adrian Fontes, state legislators Christine Marsh and Judy Schwiebert, Kellen Wilson for Phoenix City Council District 6, and Carlos Garcia for Phoenix City Council District 8.
Hunger Strike Kick-Off Ahead of MLK Day by UNITE HERE Local 11, CASE Action & Un-PAC to Urge Senate to Pass of Freedom To Vote Act
PHOENIX–UNITE HERE Local 11, CASE Action, and Un-PAC today launched a hunger strike outside the Arizona State Capitol to continue to pressure elected leaders in Washington to pass the Freedom to Vote Act.
On day 1, strikers were joined by State Senator Raquel Teran and Pastor Aubrey Barnwell, among others.
Beatriz Topete, an organizing director with UNITE HERE Local 11, said, “It isn’t time to roll back the clock on voting rights–it’s time to move forward! Just yesterday, 40 of our fellow activists with un-PAC relaunched their hunger strike in Washington DC. And today, strikers in Arizona are joining in because we know that Arizonans believe in the freedom to vote.”
Last year the Arizona state legislature passed laws that hurt both workers and voters. Across the country, 400 bills were introduced to make it harder for people of color to vote. In response, UNITE HERE Local 11 and CASE Action went on a 10-day Freedom Ride from Arizona to Washington D.C to draw attention to the attacks on the freedom to vote across the country.
“The freedom that I have spent my life protecting is under attack,” said Marilyn Wilbur, CASE Action organizer and veteran of the US Air Force. “The Arizona legislature last year passed a law that will purge hundreds of thousands of mail voters from the Permanent Early Voter list, and another that will limit the time voters have to fix a signature on their ballot. Our state is part of a national trend to limit voting rights. That is why I joined the hunger strike for the freedom to vote.”
Ari Berrong-Huber, a UNITE HERE Local 11 member at Sky Harbor airport, also shared why he’s fighting for the freedom to vote. “Last August, I joined hundreds of other union members in a civil disobedience in DC. The freedom to vote is a sacred right. It is the way citizens can fight for better education, access to healthcare, and protections during the pandemic. Now I’m joining the hunger strike to call attention to the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. We can’t let loopholes and obstructionism stand in our way.”
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of laid off cooks, housekeepers, dishwashers, and bartenders knocked on a million doors to win Arizona for Biden, and delivered two U.S Senate seats in Georgia. Now, those same workers are forgoing food to protect our democracy. Hunger strikers plan to join the King family at Arizona Deliver for Voting Rights mobilization and Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Action on Saturday, January 15, 2022.
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CASE Action Fund is an economic justice organization dedicated to improving the lives of Arizona’s working families through policy advocacy and increasing participation in the political process.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Just in Time for Christmas, HMS Host Workers in Three Cities Ratify New Contracts
Airport food workers with UNITE HERE Local 11 voted to ratify new contracts with HMS Host Thursday at Los Angeles International, Phoenix Sky Harbor International, and John Wayne Orange County airports.
All three two-year agreements lift workers at the bottom of the payscale to livable wages and establish stronger job security and anti-discrimination protections.
The ratification Thursday also averts a potential strike authorized this past Monday by American Airlines Admirals Club lounge workers employed by HMS Host at LAX.
“I love my job and what I do, but the money I’ve been making hasn’t been enough to live on,” said Evelyn Torres, an LAX lounge attendant. “I voted yes to go on strike if we had to, and I’m so proud that now we have a new agreement and we’re getting the raises we actually deserve.”
Workers in Phoenix won an agreement that dramatically improves health insurance cost-sharing for employees—a critical point for many who were on strike for 10 days during the peak of Thanksgiving travel last month.
“The health insurance alone will be life-changing for me and my family,” said Lucia Salinas, a cook at Cowboy Ciao at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. “After fighting for a contract for about four years, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief that we have what we need and deserve.”
“The pandemic, being unemployed, years of going without—it’s been hard. But we’ve kept fighting to get through it. Knowing what we’ve won shows that it was all worth it,” said Reyna Gonzalez, a cook for HMS Host at John Wayne Airport in Orange County.
HMS Host is the single largest concessionaire at LAX, Sky Harbor, and John Wayne airports—employing nearly 1300 workers at dozens of restaurants and all on-airport Starbucks stores. HMS Host workers also staff the American Airlines Admirals Club and American Eagle lounges at LAX.
