Day 3: SFO restaurant workers continue their picket lines

TWITTER / UNITE HERE LOCAL 2

Many of the striking food workers at San Francisco International Airport are AANHPI.

If you're are looking for a good cup of coffee or a stiff drink before you board your flight at San Francisco International Airport this week -- good luck!

That barista that prepares the lattes and cappuccinos and the bartender offering up cocktails are probably on the picket lines outside the airport. A large number of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders are among the 1,000 fast food workers and bartenders have been on strike since Monday asking for wage increases and to preserve their current better health plan.

Outside a terminal entrance in San Francisco, some picketers were carrying signs that said “One job should be enough.”

“Everything is up but our wages,” said Frank Wang to Marketwatch. Wang, 70, who has been a bartender at the airport’s United Club lounge for 16 years, said margaritas now cost $22, hamburgers are $20 and beer is over $10. He makes $16.99 an hour.

While those wages might seem high in other parts of the country, the San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most expensive places to live in the nation. According to RentCafe, the cost of living in San Francisco is 38% higher than the state average and 94% higher than the national average. Housing in San Francisco is 238% more expensive than the U.S average,

“It’s ridiculous,” Wang told Marketwatch. He added that he knows of bartenders outside the airport who make at least $10 an hour more. “The owners are not giving an inch. They should give back to the employees.”

Managers, some from other airports, are trying to fill in in some of the food outlets, but lines outside those outlets are longer. Travelers should plan to bring their own food.

Iva Chen, director of business development for Lady Luck Gourmet, which owns the Filipino restaurant Goldilocks, said via Instagram DM that she flew up from Los Angeles to work the line with non-unionized managers until 10 p.m. The restaurant is open today, despite union members pressuring Chen and her fellow staff, she says. “The economics that the union is requesting doesn’t make sense. We can’t make money appear out of thin air,” Chen said via message.

Unite Here Local 2, the union representing the workers, said most food-service workers at the airport made $17.05 per hour, and hadn’t had a pay increase in three years. Their employers are proposing that workers contribute pay to the cost of healthcare, something the employers already do. Anand Singh, the union’s president, said nine months of negotiations with employers had failed.

Some of those workers are employed directly by the outlets, while others are run by larger companies such as Compass Group PLC CPG, +1.04% and Flix. A representative for those employers did not immediately return a request for comment. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday called a special hearing at San Francisco City Hall to talk about working conditions, wages and benefits at the airport.

Ted Waechter, the media representative for Unite Here Local 2, told Eater he doesn’t know how long the strike will last. “We are prepared to strike for as long as it takes. This is about our livelihoods and families, which motivates people more than a corporate bottom line.”

Diana Gomez, 30, told Eater she has to work two jobs at the airport to make ends meet. She makes $17.35 and $18 an hour at each job, respectively.

She said a lot of airport food workers do double shifts, like her. They’re fighting not just for higher wages and to preserve their healthcare benefits but also for better staffing levels, she said, adding that the restaurants haven’t staffed up adequately since they cut back at the beginning of the pandemic.

Gomez, the breadwinner for her family that includes her husband and two kids, said she is willing to strike for as long as it takes.

“We have to,” she said. “I would hope the public would support us. I hope the restaurants come around.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.