Oakland Arena concession workers hold rally to demand higher wages

Concession workers with UNITE HERE Local 2 Union rallied outside of the Oakland Arena on Saturday night before a shift during an Usher concert demanding better wages and healthcare.

Workers, like Robert Preston, have worked with restaurant and hospitality company, Levy, for decades and have seen the departure of the Oakland Raiders, the Golden State Warriors and most recently the Oakland A's.

The baseball and basketball seasons gave workers more job security and they earned more at the Coliseum.

Now, all concession workers have left to rely on for their livelihood is concerts and events.

Their last negotiated contract was during COVID and in the wake of the Warrior's departure, when they accepted lower wages hoping to just return to work.

However, since then as the arena has welcomed thousands of ticket holders back through the gates, workers haven't seen an increase in pay.

"Well, once we got started, they got amnesia to the fact that we still 19 percent less than fast food workers start at," said Preston.

Union workers are asking for a pay increase from $18 to $23 an hour to match what concession workers would make at the Coliseum during baseball games.

Negotiations are happening this upcoming week to renew contracts.

"Our contract ended in December of last year, so we have no contract and they came to the table with an insulting amount," added Preston.

With the venue booking more events, since the departure of the Golden State Warriors, workers are demanding the coming take care of them.

"We're fighting inflation, we're fighting gas, we're fighting electricity with PG&E constantly going up, so it's not just that we want money. It's the fact that everything is going up, but our wages are not going up with the times," said Preston.

KPIX reached out to Levy's communication department and did not hear back.