Aramark workers at Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field and the Wells Fargo Center have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract with the food service provider, striking a deal that will include raises up to $6 an hour and health care benefits that most will be receiving for the first time, union officials said Monday afternoon.
Pending ratification in April, the deal is poised to end more than two years of negotiations that led to three strikes among roughly 2,000 Aramark employees represented by Unite Here Local 247. The union's ranks include Aramark's food and beverage workers, utility workers and others employed under three separate contracts for each of the stadiums at the Sports Complex in South Philly.
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“These are historic contracts that win health insurance access for hundreds of workers who had none," Rosslyn Wuchinich, president of Unite Here Local 247, said in a statement Monday as the Phillies played their home opener at Citizens Bank Park.
The union said voting on the contract will open Wednesday and continue through April 12.
"We are pleased to have reached new 6-year agreements covering each of the three buildings at the Philadelphia Sports Complex," an Aramark spokesperson said.
Under the tentative agreement, health care benefits will be available to all employees who work at least 1,050 hours or 180 days at any combination of the three stadiums. That became a sticking point in negotiations because many Aramark employees work at all three stadiums but had not been eligible for full-time benefits based on their combined hours under the three separate contracts.
Until now, only a few dozen members of the union had qualified for health care benefits because they work year-round at one stadium. For most workers, that isn't an option because the stadiums don't have year-round schedules for most roles.
The deal also ensures a minimum wage of at least $20 an hour for all non-tipped workers, including hourly raises of nearly $6 for the lowest-paid utility workers, union spokesperson Dermot Delude-Dix said. Food service employees who receive tips also will be guaranteed a floor of $20 an hour with an agreement that Aramark will pay the difference whenever tips don't reach that threshold.
By the end of the contact in 2029, annual pay increases will bring all Aramark employees at the Philly stadiums up to a minimum of $24 an hour.
The campaign for health care benefits and better wages picked up momentum after the contract at the Wells Fargo Center expired in 2023. The contracts at the Linc and Citizens Bank Park expired last year. Workers held two strikes spanning five days at the Wells Fargo Center last April — including one during a 76ers playoff game — and then another four-day strike in September that affected all three stadiums.
During negotiations, the union pointed to considerably lower wages for Aramark workers in Philadelphia, where the company is based, compared with employees at venues in other cities. Utility and concessions workers in D.C.'s Capital One Arena have a minimum hourly pay of $21.50, and workers in both groups at Chicago's United Center earn at least $20.50 an hour.
The tentative agreement will include retroactive pay at the new rates for Aramark employees who have been working under each of the three expired contracts. If the contract is ratified, workers will receive checks making up the difference in pay at the new rates going back to the points when each of the stadium contracts ended. All employees also will get 11 paid holidays.
The deal comes after City Council had considered adopting an amendment in November that would have extended the city's prevailing wage law to Aramark workers and ensured they received pay increases and additional hourly wages for health care and benefit contributions. The union had rejected an earlier offer by Aramark before the strike in September.
"We fought hard for this contract," said Sam Spector, a club attendant and bartender at the three stadiums. "No department was left behind. We stuck together and that's why we were able to set a new standard for Aramark workers and stadium workers."