At least 45 Aramark food workers arrested during Center City demonstration for better pay and health benefits

Union members working for Aramark at the South Philadelphia sports complex conducted a “civil disobedience” protest in Center City late Wednesday afternoon, with at least 45 participants arrested as they disrupted rush-hour traffic to draw attention to their monthslong struggle to get new contracts with better pay and health benefits.

Starting around 4 p.m. several hundred members of Unite Here Local 274 gathered outside Aramark’s headquarters at 2400 Market St. with a giant inflatable cigar-smoking “fat cat” and marched in the area chanting and holding signs that read, “Aramark unfair. Equal treatment now!” They were joined by demonstrators from other cities, including Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C.

Protesters then moved to the street, and sat in the middle of the Market Street Bridge, where police issued three warnings telling them that they risked arrest. Following the final warning around 5:30 p.m., police in a slow and orderly fashion made their first arrest, and began removing demonstrators.

About 50 participants had planned for their arrest Wednesday, signified by black fabric tied to their arms to indicate they were willing to be taken into custody. Officers at the demonstration noted that an offense for blocking traffic likely would result in a citation.

State Sen. Nikil Saval, a Philadelphia Democrat, was among the protesters arrested.

“I refuse to let my constituents be mistreated by a wealthy corporation that gets richer every year from exploiting their labor,” Saval said in a statement afterward. “Their fight is my fight.”

An Aramark spokesperson offered a statement in response to the protest.

“We respect the right of our employees to demonstrate. We have had several meetings with the bargaining committee in an effort to reach a new agreement, and we intend to keep working toward a settlement that works for everyone,” said Chris Collom, vice president of corporate communications. ”We will continue to focus on delivering an outstanding fan experience for our clients and customers and would like to thank our dedicated employees from around the organization for supporting our ongoing contingency plans.”

Aramark workers represented by Unite Here Local 274 have picketed and held strikes over the company’s treatment of employees in recent months.

In March, for example, food service workers at the Wells Fargo Center, Lincoln Financial Field, and Citizens Bank Park staged a picket outside the Wells Fargo Center demanding a standard minimum wage and health benefits for the venues’ hundreds of employees.

At the time, the union had proposed that any member working 750 hours per year across all three venues should be eligible for full-year health insurance. Aramark countered with a minimum of 1,500 hours, Unite Here organizers said.

In April, Aramark food workers held a four-day strike against the company during Sixers games at the Wells Fargo Center. During one game, about 100 picketers marched along Broad Street near the arena, holding signs that read, “On Strike! Don’t Patronize Aramark.”

Tiffani Davis, one of the workers who planned to get arrested Wednesday, said she was protesting so future employees don’t have to.

Davis, 31, who works in concessions, financially supports her uncle who has lung cancer. “We’re worried that we’re gonna miss time with our kids. We’re worried about our bills, we’re worried about all these different things,” Davis said. “Why do we have to worry about these things while working for a billion-dollar company?”

Samantha Spector, who works several jobs at all three sports venues, including as a club attendant and concessions bartender, said she struggles to afford her own health care on top of providing for her 9-year-old daughter as a single mother.

“I feel good,” Spector said about her decision to get arrested. “We have people from other cities come down here supporting us. Other Aramark workers are going through the same thing that we’re going through. Aramark is a billion-dollar company and can afford to pay workers a living wage and [provide them with] health care,” she said.

Spector said she hopes to come back for another strike.

Aramark had not said anything to union members ahead of Wednesday’s demonstration, she said. If contract demands aren’t met after that protest, she said, the union will continue to strike.

“You don’t know how much power you can gain unless you stand up for yourself,” Davis said.

The union’s contracts with Aramark expired on March 17 for the Wells Fargo Center and Lincoln Financial Field workers, and at the end of March for workers at Citizens Bank Park. Bargaining for affected members began in December.

Unite Here Local 274 has said it is battling for family-sustaining pay increases and health benefits, seeking a standard minimum wage and health-care package for the hundreds of Aramark employees at the Wells Fargo Center, Lincoln Financial Field, and Citizens Bank Park.

Many Unite Here members work at two or all three of the facilities, but the company has three different contracts with the workers’ union.

Fewer than 20 of Aramark’s hundreds of Wells Fargo Center workers have year-round health insurance, the union said. About 210 qualify for partial-year prescription and doctor visit coverage, but not hospital emergency care.

Aramark employs roughly 8,000 workers in the region. But it staffs entertainment venues across the globe, with more than 260,000 employees in divisions that include food services and facilities management.

After taking a hit to profitability during the first two years of the pandemic, Aramark has rebounded and shown significant revenue growth. The company reported more than $18.8 billion in revenue, along with net income of $673 million, during the fiscal year that ended in September.

The union has said that food-service workers at the Sports Complex in South Philadelphia earn significantly less than those in other major cities. For instance, the union said, food-service workers at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., and the United Center in Chicago earn hourly wages of $21.50 and $21.55, respectively. Their counterparts at the Wells Fargo Center earn $14.11 per hour.

Similarly, the union said, employees who work a minimum of 910 hours per year between the United Center and Wrigley Field in Chicago are eligible for free, year-round health insurance. Only a few of Aramark’s employees at the Sports Complex are eligible for employer-sponsored health care, despite the fact that hundreds work for Aramark year-round.

Eligibility for health-care benefits for year-round workers remains a key sticking point in the contract discussion between the union and Aramark, the union said.