Nats Stadium Workers Ink New Contract

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

With a hot new pitcher on the mound and a freshly-approved contract in hand, members of UNITE HERE Local 25 are enthusiastically cheering on the Nationals. Workers at the Nationals Stadium - members of Local 25 - overwhelmingly approved a new agreement Monday afternoon. "It's a great contract," said UNITE HERE Local 25 Executive Secretary-Treasurer John Boardman. "Money was not the issue," said Boardman, noting that the Nationals readily agreed to wage, benefit and pension improvements. "The major issue was subcontracting," Boardman said. "We had three tough months of negotiations, a great negotiating committee and a membership that was well-aware of what was at stake. In the end, we not only preserved more than 500 existing union jobs at the stadium, but as the Nationals build out more facilities in the future, they've agreed that workers at existing vendors will be covered and a card-check neutrality agreement will cover those at new vendors. We couldn't be more pleased." The Local 25 members work at the concession stands throughout the Nationals ballpark. Click here for details on the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO's upcoming Labor Night At The Nats, scheduled for Friday, July 9.
- photo: OPEIU Local 2 member and AFSCME IU staffer Renee Barnes singing the national anthem at last year's Labor Night At The Nats; photo by Chris Garlock