PRESS RELEASE: May 10, 2025
Media Contact: Lynette Ng, 413-275-8195, [email protected]
FENWAY WORKERS TO HOLD STRIKE VOTE FROM JUNE 13 – 15
Concessions Workers are Fighting for Substantial Raises and an End to Automation
Boston, MA – UNITE HERE Local 26, the hospitality workers’ union, announced today that over 1,000 Aramark employees at Fenway Park and MGM Music Hall will hold a strike authorization vote from June 13th to 15th. If authorized, this will be the concessions workers’ first labor strike at Fenway Park.
The workers, whose union contract expired at the end of 2024, include Beer Sellers, Cashiers, Cooks, Runners, Servers, Souvenir Vendors, Utility Workers, Warehouse Attendants, and others. The Union began bargaining with Aramark early this year but currently both parties are far apart on reaching agreement.
Many of the workers started working at the ballpark as teenagers and have continued to work there for decades. They used to earn reasonable wages, but over the years their pay rates have not kept up with the rising cost of living in greater Boston. Low entry-level wages have also resulted in a high turnover rate among newer employees.
Fenway concessions workers currently earn under $20 an hour, which is about $10 an hour below the citywide standard for similar jobs. Ballparks that are home to the Miami Marlins and the Seattle Mariners pay their concessions workers and warehouse attendants more, even though the cost of living in Boston is higher compared to Miami or Seattle.
Ramon Suarez, a Warehouse Attendant who works at Fenway almost year-round, is fighting for a pay increase because he struggles to pay his monthly bills with the low wages. But he wants to keep working there because “Fenway Park is part of Boston’s foundation. I like the purpose and camaraderie in my job. I’m known as the ‘David Ortiz of the warehouse’. Inside and outside the ballpark, people come and look for me, and I enjoy helping them out with a smile on my face.”
For the workers who have worked at the beloved ballpark for half of their lives or more, Fenway Park is a special place. It is where they grew up, built community with co-workers and local Red Sox fans, and met a multitude of American and international tourists. A sense of Boston pride and identity is palpable among the workers, who consider themselves part of the same family. Many are used to having two full-time jobs during baseball season and they routinely plan birthdays, christenings, even their own weddings around their ballpark work schedule.
“That’s where I met my husband, who also works there,” said Laura Crystal, a full-time stand worker. Born and bred in Boston, Crystal has a day job teaching fourth graders. She started working at Fenway Park when she was 15 years old. “I literally grew up at the ballpark. It shaped me into who I am today.”
A Food Server and a Beer Seller, Crystal said that her serving skills are not utilized at grab-and-go stations, and her earnings are negatively impacted. Locally and nationally, the rise of automation in the form of vending machines and self-checkout counters at sports stadiums including Fenway has been taking away jobs and eating into workers’ earnings.
Workers who are stationed at automated beer stands say the vending machines cannot check for alcohol compliance and do what a human Beer Seller does, including making sure buyers are not underaged or overserved. The machine cannot remind a customer that their ID is expiring soon, wish someone a Happy Birthday, or start a conversation.
“Red Sox fans come to Fenway not just to enjoy the games and watch the athletes. They return year after year and they look for the server who gave them great service and made their experience at the ballpark a memorable one. It’s a personal connection,” said Carlos Aramayo, President of UNITE HERE Local 26. “These workers should be paid well, in line with the citywide standard, and they should not have to worry about losing their jobs to technology.”
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UNITE HERE Local 26 represents workers in the hospitality industries of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Our members work in Boston and Providence’s best hotels, restaurants, and university dining halls in addition to the Boston Convention Centers, Fenway Park, and Logan International Airport. We clean hotel rooms, greet guests, and prepare and serve food for hundreds of thousands of travelers to Boston and the northeast.
UNITE HERE is the hospitality workers’ union in the U.S. and Canada, representing workers in hotels, gaming, restaurants and food service, airports, and more.