Union Says Food Giant Aramark Won’t Meet Health Care Obligations After A’s Leave Oakland

The union representing Oakland Coliseum food service workers alleges that their employer is refusing to provide already accrued health care benefits after the A’s baseball team leaves town.

Unite Here Local 2 represents 400 concessions workers who sling hot dogs, beer and all manner of other ballpark fare, some of whom have been working at the Coliseum for 20 or 30 years.

The union says their employer, Aramark, intends to back out of a contract agreement involving health care and that the international food service giant also refuses to provide any kind of severance package when the A’s decamp for West Sacramento following this season, with Thursday’s day game that ended as a 3-2 victory over the Texas Rangers marking the team’s last home game in Oakland.

“As the A’s play their final games in Oakland, we are disappointed that Aramark is refusing to give Coliseum concessions workers even a cent of severance for their years of serving A’s fans,” said Unite Here Local 2 vice president Yulisa Elenes. “If that’s not bad enough, Aramark has also told Unite Here Local 2 that they will not pay for health care coverage that workers have already qualified for according to current eligibility rules.”

According to union officials, Coliseum food service workers have a contract, penned in 2023, stipulating that the hours they work in one year pay for the following year’s health care benefits.

Aramark now says, however, that it will not provide the benefits accrued during the current baseball season, union officials said.

“Aramark’s position is that concessions workers should lose their jobs and their health care after the A’s play their last game this Thursday,” Elenes said.

A company spokesperson said Aramark understands that the team’s move to West Sacramento, with plans for an eventual Las Vegas ballpark, has created a difficult transition period for workers.

“We are bargaining in good faith with the union regarding the effects of the A’s departure and are prepared to offer those impacted available roles in other areas of our organization,” said Aramark spokesperson Debbie Albert.

Union officials say workers were offered jobs at the San Francisco Giants’ Oracle Park and have about six months to decide if they want to accept that offer, but if they do, they’ll end up at the bottom of the seniority list and likely get few, if any, hours.
Unite Here Local 2 has filed a grievance with the company and expects the health care issue to go to arbitration.

“The least Aramark could do is pay out workers’ health insurance, as promised, and pay a fair severance to keep workers afloat as they find new jobs,” Elenes said.