Strike during Comic-Con averted as union reaches ‘unprecedented’ deal for convention workers

The threat of a strike during Comic-Con was averted Friday when the union representing workers at the San Diego Convention Center secured a lucrative deal that will give them a pay raise of 55 percent or more over four years.

Just two days ago, food and beverage workers at the convention center voted overwhelmingly to walk off their jobs in the event their wage and benefit demands could not be met.

“This is unprecedented, I’ve never seen money like this before,” Unite Here Local 30 president Brigette Browning said of the tentative agreement.

The four-year deal was hammered out Friday following five hours of bargaining with Sodexo Live, a food and beverage services company that the San Diego Convention Center Corp. contracts with for the many events and conferences held at the bayfront facility. The contract will be effective immediately once it’s formally ratified and will be retroactive to July 1. The contract for the 650 cooks, dishwashers, bartenders, servers, baristas and food concession workers had expired June 30.

Under the new agreement, non-tipped employees such as the culinary team and dishwashers will get a $3-an-hour increase each year over the four-year term, Browning explained. A cook now earning $20.02 an hour, she said, will be making $32.02 by the end of the four-year contract, a 60 percent hike.

While the $12-an-hour increase will be the same for most non-tipped employees, the overall percentage boost will vary from 55 percent to 67 percent, the union said.

“We’re super excited, and they (Sodexo) put a lot of money on the table today,” Browning said. “It’s an outstanding contract we’re very proud of.”

Sodexo spokesperson Paul Pettas explained that the contract encompasses not only wage increases but also expanded health coverage.

The union won health benefits for a number of employees who currently don’t work enough hours to quality for health insurance, given the sporadic nature of work at the convention center, Browning explained. She added that there was also an agreement on a defined pension benefit plan but did not provide more details on that.

“As an employer of choice in San Diego,” Pettas said, “we look forward to continuing to provide best-in-class hospitality to the world’s largest meetings, conventions and events, and this agreement will ensure increased economic vitality for the individuals who have careers with us at the San Diego Convention Center.”

While the huge Comic-Con gathering that will start later this month likely gave the union some bargaining leverage, Browning suspects it is the start next week of the Esri convention, which draws some 18,000 GIS (geographic information systems) professionals, that was the bigger motivator for a quick resolution. Talks with Sodexo began in April, and up until Friday, there had been no negotiations for a couple of weeks, the union said.

Yet another factor likely working in the union’s favor was a hearing this week before the board of the San Diego Convention Center Corp., which was asked to extend Sodexo’s current food and beverage services contract for 10 years once it expires in June 2028. The board agreed to the extension on the condition that there was a successful resolution of the labor negotiations.

“I think the contract extension had a lot to do with that as well, so we appreciate the board standing up for our workers,” Browning said.

Before the contract can go into effect, Unite Here members will have to take a formal vote. No date has been set yet.

Originally Published: July 12, 2024 at 7:01 p.m.