SFO Food Workers Launch Strike for Higher Pay
Sep. 26—Around 1,000 food workers at San Francisco International Airport went on strike on Monday morning, demanding higher pay after contract negotiations stalled out.
The strike will affect dozens of food outlets and deny travelers most prepared foods, with some restaurants still offering limited hours, according to SFO officials. Some packaged foods will still be available at retail shops during the strike.
Anand Singh, president of Unite Here Local 2, the food workers' union, said workers and a group of restaurant owners remained "very far apart" in negotiations. Workers make an average of $17.05 an hour and want higher wages and to maintain their current health care benefits.
"Nine months of negotiations got us nowhere, and SFO's food service workers are tired of working two or even three jobs just to survive," Singh said in a statement.
A representative of the restaurant business owners didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Tuesday, dozens of workers marched in a circle outside both Terminal 1 and 3 for hours, holding "on strike" and "one job should be enough" signs. "What do we want?" "Justice" "When do we want it?" "Now," they chanted. A few passing cars honked in support. Their voices could be heard inside on the Terminal 1, B Gate security line, but the mood inside was calm and quiet.
The union estimates around 10% of workers are working two different jobs across two businesses to earn enough to survive.
Maria Soza Rodriguez worked for more than a decade at both a Burger King and Urban Tortilla restaurant at SFO, laboring for a combined 15 hours each day.
In May, the South San Francisco resident quit to organize full-time with Unite Here Local 2.
"I'd been working two jobs at least 10 years straight," she said. "Being a mother, it was really really hard."
She wanted to help bring about change by rallying her fellow union members to prepare for a strike. In August, 99.7% of workers voted to authorize a strike.
"I just don't want people to go through the same struggle I've had," she said.
The coronavirus crippled SFO's business for more than a year, and Rodriguez said many SFO workers were infected, including her. The SFO food workers' current contract includes family health care, which helped her and her daughter, who was also infected, recover from COVID.
Another union member, Kristine Mauricio, works around 60 hours per week as a cashier and barista at Peet's Coffee and Black Point Cafe. A single parent, Mauricio lives in a small studio near SFO, while her son and the rest of her family lives in far away in the East Bay. She's only able to visit her son once a week. She wants to see average pay boosted to at least $20 to $21 per hour.
The strike followed a protest on Sept. 16 which blocked traffic at Terminal 3 and led to the brief arrests of 41 protesters, including San Francisco Supervisors Gordon Mar and Connie Chan. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to hold a hearing on the strike on Tuesday, with testimony from workers and restaurant owners.
SFO tweeted Monday morning that "a labor action may impact staffing at SFO restaurants and lounges."
Workers previously held a brief strike in 2014, which led to a contract agreement.
There's additional labor unrest at the airport: In an unrelated action, United Airlines flight attendants plan to protest on Tuesday at SFO and other airports after operational disruptions led to delays and cancellations. United, which is SFO's biggest carrier, reportedly failed to inspect some of its jets in the past week, which led to 18 canceled flights.
Southwest Airlines flight attendents and supporters also plan to form picket lines at Oakland International Airport and other airports on Tuesday, demanding a new contract with better pay and benefits.
Strike activity has ramped up this year, according to an analysis by Cornell University showing 180 strikes with 78,000 workers in the first six months of the year, compared to 102 strikes with 26,500 workers in the same time period in 2021. Locally, health care professionals at Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health have held strikes.
Discontent over pay, health care benefits during the pandemic, and a tight labor market shifting power to workers have also fueled strikes.
Roland Li is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @rolandlisf
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