Fenway Park workers fly to Liverpool to ask John Henry for negotiation help

Local News

“We’re all willing to do whatever it takes to get a contract, whether that’s going to Liverpool or going to Pittsburgh … We’re just not going to stop until we get the contract that we need and deserve.”

Fenway Park workers flew more than 3,100 miles last week to ask Red Sox owner John Henry to step into conversations with the park’s food contractor as contract negotiations stall.

Four food and beverage workers and one union organizer flew to Liverpool last week with the goal of petitioning Henry for help, the workers said Wednesday.

Food and beverage workers at Fenway Park and MGM Music Hall say they’ve made little headway with food service company Aramark, their employer, in negotiating wages and automation policies. The workers went on a weekend-long strike in July but have since returned to work.

Henry, who also owns Boston.com’s parent company and the Liverpool Football Club, was reportedly in Liverpool to attend the first game of the club’s season last Friday. He has not made a public statement on the Boston workers’ contract negotiations.

Carlos Aramayo, President of UNITE HERE Local 26, said Henry’s attention is elsewhere, perhaps across the pond, since Liverpool won last year’s Premier League title. 

“We’re trying to draw attention to what we’re doing here … saying ‘hey, don’t forget us here at home,” Aramayo said.

The workers — Joe Baio, Lauren Casello, Austin Petruzziello, and Charbel Salameh — said their shirts drew attention from onlookers in Logan Airport, and they received support from travelers as well as media attention.

Casello, a Fenway suite attendant for 22 seasons, said the group met with Ian Byrne, a member of Parliament for Liverpool West Derby. They spoke about Fenway’s fight against automation in the ballpark. 

“They know it’s coming, and they don’t want it,” Casello said, regarding automation services in stadiums.

“Our goal was to raise awareness to our struggle and to the ownership especially, the human cost of losing jobs to automate a checkout,” Baio, a barback for 15 years, said. 

“We’re not opposed to the technology, we’re opposed to it when there’s no safety around it,” Salameh, a beer seller at Fenway for 28 years, added. “People just grabbing beers from a machine can’t tell you how drunk someone is.”

They also traveled to the stadium in Liverpool to take photos before the big game Friday night. While chatting with fans outside the stadium, Salameh noted how “receptive” and “sympathetic” people were. 

“They understand it’s only a matter of time, because if something starts at one place, it eventually is expanded to the rest of that ownership holdings,” Salameh said. “When you stop and you think about it and you’re like  ‘this could be in our stadium in a matter of weeks or months.’”

Though the main purpose of the trip was to make their case with Henry, Salameh said he knew there was a “zero chance” of meeting with him in person. 

The group instead delivered another letter similar to an open letter sent July 22 to Henry’s Liverpool office. 

“We’re all willing to do whatever it takes to get a contract, whether that’s going to Liverpool or going to Pittsburgh, where he owns the Penguins,” Petruzziello, a vendor for nine seasons,  said. “We’re just not going to stop until we get the contract that we need and deserve.”

The workers’ trip follows a three day strike — the first in the ballpark’s history — over the Dodgers’ homestand weekend from July 25 to 27.  

Aramayo said he was “blown away by the participation” in the strike, calling it “extraordinary.”

“People really felt like it was important to be there and be seen and be loud and proud,” he said. 

The union is going to bat for multiple demands, including increased gratuities for some workers, citywide-standard wages, fair scheduling that takes seniority into account, and policies around automation. 

Aramayo said the union and Aramark had a “productive” bargaining session Aug. 13, but the two groups are still “far apart” on Fenway’s two core issues: wages and automation.

“We’re looking to seriously close the gap between workers at Fenway who are making $18 and change an hour, and other workers in the city who do similar work who are making seven, eight bucks more,” Aramayo said.

The groups are set to bargain again Aug. 28, according to Aramayo.  

If their contract isn’t settled, Fenway Park may see another strike before the season is over, he said.

He said the workers’ trip to Liverpool shows their commitment to the cause. 

“This sends the message that our members are going to do whatever it takes to try to get this across the finish line,” Aramayo said. “If that means taking three days out of work and flying back and forth to England, then that’s what we’re gonna do.”