More than 1,000 UNITE HERE Local 26 union workers employed by MGM Music Hall and Fenway Park will vote from June 13 to 15 to authorize the first concessions workers’ strike in Fenway history. 

Despite Fenway Park being the most expensive stadium in the country and the Red Sox holding the third-highest valuation in Major League Baseball, warehouse attendants and concession workers earn significantly less than staff at other parks, according to a Local 26 press release published on May 10. 

Employees in Miami, Florida, Washington, D.C. and Seattle, Washington ballparks earn up to twice as much as their Boston counterparts, according to the press release. 

The union’s four central demands include increased wages, eliminating automation in the park, addressing scheduling issues related to worker seniority and increased gratuities for premium workers serving season ticket holders and VIP fans, said Laura Crystal, a unionized stand worker. 

Concession workers — managed by the food company Aramark — have worked without contracts since their previous ones expired at the end of 2024, according to the press release. Dewayne Jones, a grill cook in his fifth year working at Fenway, described the situation as having “your hand in hot water.” 

“These people have the power to say ‘yay’ and ‘nay,’” Jones said, referring to unsuccessful contract negotiations with Aramark. “It’s like a slap in the face, disrespectful to our hard work and dedication.”

For Crystal, who has worked at the park since she was 15, lacking a contract and working for relatively low wages has left her and others feeling “replaceable.” 

“I don’t think our skill set is valued,” Crystal said. “I think we’re looked at as unskilled labor, but waiting on tens of thousands of people every year for your whole life is a skill.”

Increased automation — the replacement of jobs with new technology — has also raised numerous concerns among Fenway workers. 

Crystal said the shift has made it harder to monitor alcohol consumption, including by minors, while limiting employees’ hours. Along with this, Jones said automation has made tipping less frequent. 

“I think it was done for the sake of efficiency, but it doesn’t really improve efficiency,” Crystal said. “They’ve cut a lot of places serving alcohol, and so less and less people get to work those higher-earning stands.”

Warehouse attendant Ramon Suarez, known as the “David Ortiz of the warehouse,” said he is concerned that automation is hindering the “personal” connection between workers and fans — a hallmark of America’s oldest ballpark.

“It’s a people-to-people park,” said Suarez, who has worked at Fenway for 12 years. “When you put in the robot, you’re taking away that feeling of why you came to Fenway Park.” 

Low wages also make building a productive workplace difficult. Concession workers at Fenway make around $20 an hour, which is $10 less than the citywide standard for other food service jobs, according to the press release. 

“I cannot keep workers who are not going to stay for a low pay,” Suarez, who works two jobs himself, said. “They have families. They have things that they’re trying to accomplish and achieve, and they’re not going to be able to achieve it on the salary that they’re offering here at Fenway Park.”

Although workers are discontent with current working conditions, Jones said he remains devoted to working at the park. 

“I come to the park with hard work and dedication already built in me, and I display that every day,” he said. “Meeting people from all over the world [who] come back to the park and remember me is something special.” 

Despite suffering severe injuries after an electric scooter accident last year, Suarez said he “willed [his] way back” to health and managed to work the latter half of the season. 

“I had almost lost a leg and everything, [yet] I still wanted to come back to work because I miss work and I like the job,” Suarez said. 

If a new contract is not signed soon, Fenway workers are prepared to go on strike for better working conditions. For many workers, a strike is a call for respect and dignity. 

“Me and my union brothers and sisters, from the meetings that we’ve been having and the community that we have going on and the atmosphere that’s going on right now, I believe that we are ready,” Jones said.