SAN FRANCISCO—On Wednesday, July 29, food service provider Bon Appétit Management Company announced it will lay off 2,154 of its employees who worked at Chase Center and Oracle Park in San Francisco.
According to Bon Appétit spokesperson Jenny Slafkosky, the company placed the employees in furlough since the venues closed in March, but they were hoping that large events would resume soon in order to “bring these valued team members back to work.” With large gatherings still prohibited by the state of California, the company eliminated the position of these food service workers.
Out of the laid off hourly union employees, 660 worked at both venues, 667 worked only at Chase Center and 737 worked only at Oracle Park. From the non-union supervisors, 50 worked at Chase Center and 40 at Oracle Park. Bon Appétit negotiated with unions of San Francisco workers and agreed on respecting the recall rights of employees.
“Employees who are part of collective bargaining agreements have recall rights as negotiated between Bon Appétit and their union, and Bon Appétit will honor these agreements,” said Slafkosky.
UNITE HERE Local 2, one of the unions of workers in the hospitality industries of San Francisco, commented on the layoffs that were made effective on Wednesday.
“Stadium concessions workers are too often forgotten when we talk about the pandemic’s impact on sports, but few have been impacted as gameday workers. Our union recently won 24 months of recall rights for workers at the Warriors’ Chase Center, and we’ll be negotiating for the same standard at Oracle Park. Oracle Park’s concessions workers are part of the Giants family, and now’s the time for this team to support workers in a way that truly meets the moment,” said Ted Waechter, spokesman for UNITE HERE local 2.