S.F. airport workers end three-day strike, will vote on contract this weekend

Levi Sumagaysay - MarketWatch

Food-service workers at San Francisco International Airport on Thursday ended a three-day strike that shut down most of the restaurants and eateries at the busy airport, after being promised what their union called “significant raises,” free family healthcare and more.


S.F. airport workers end three-day strike, will vote on contract this weekend

© Levi Sumagaysay/MarketWatch

Related video: 1,000 San Francisco airport workers on strike

Duration 2:00 View on Watch

The hospitality workers’ union, Unite Here Local 2, and a consortium of airport restaurants reached a tentative deal late Wednesday, according to a union spokesperson. The 1,000 workers affected are scheduled to vote on the contract Sunday.

“All the hard work and sacrifice of the strike has paid off for my family,” Blanca Gay, a snack bar attendant at SFO for 30 years and a member of the local bargaining committee, said in a statement.

See: ‘Everything is up but our wages’: Airport and airline workers speak out worldwide about ‘ridiculous’ conditions

Details of the contract are not yet public, but Unite Here Local 2 spokesman Ted Waechter said Thursday that “we really accomplished all our goals.” The union said a majority of the workers’ wages under the previous contract was $17.05 an hour, and that their employers were proposing that workers contribute to the cost of healthcare.

The strike closed down most of the places travelers could buy a meal at the airport, such as Boudin Bakeries and Ladle & Leaf, and caused the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to call a special hearing this week. Supervisors heard testimony from cashiers, baristas, cooks, dishwashers, bartenders and others who told stories about how they hadn’t seen a raise in three years and how many of them have to work two or three jobs.

The supervisors pressed employers and said that if those conditions continued, they would more closely scrutinize who gets leases at the airport, according to Waechter. The supervisors’ attention, plus the nearly total strike that brought most of the workers to the picket lines, really “brought pressure to bear,” Waechter said.

A representative for the at least 84 food and drink outlets and 30 contractors that employ the hospitality workers did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday. Some workers are employed directly by the restaurants, while others are employed by larger contractors such as Compass Group PLC and Flix.

Also this week, flight attendants for United Airlines Holdings Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co. held actions at SFO and other airports as they asked for higher pay and changes to scheduling policies.

SFO restaurant workers win raises, guaranteed health care in strike; back on the job Thursday

Thursday, September 29, 2022 


SAN FRANCISCO -- Restaurant and food service workers at San Francisco International Airport have won raises and other benefits after they started striking on Monday, shutting down most of the businesses within the airport.

The hospitality workers' union reached a tentative deal late Tuesday night with the multi-employer group called SFO Restaurants, which was unanimously approved by the union's bargaining committe.

It includes free family health care as well as increased wages. A ratification vote will take place on Sunday, October 2.

RELATED: Day 2 of SFO restaurant workers strike, United Airlines flight attendants also plan to picket

The roughly 1,000 workers that were on strike are now back on the job Thursday, and say that it is a well-deserved victory.

"This strike was so worth it to give my family a better life," said Blanca Gay, a snack bar attendant at SFO for 30 years and member of the UNITE HERE Local 2 bargaining committee. "My son is in college, but he had to switch from full-time to part-time just so he could work. With the raises we won, I can help my son go back to school full-time. All the hard work and sacrifice of the strike has paid off for my family."

Since Monday, passengers were being advised to bring their own food to the airport, as all of the food options were closed.

VIDEO: 1,000 SFO restaurant workers go on strike for better pay

One thousand restaurant workers are on strike at San Francisco International Airport on Monday.

Union President Anand Singh said the majority of workers on strike were making $17.05 an hour, which is often less than the price of one meal at the airport. They had not seen a raise in three years, the union says.

The last time food workers went on strike at SFO was back in 2014, which lasted for two days.

If approved, the contract would expire in August 2025.