Strike averted: MSP airport food workers reach tentative contract agreement

The food workers at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) have reached a tentative contract deal to avoid a potential strike.

UNITE HERE Local 17, the union that represents the workers, announced it reached an agreement with HMSHost, one of the airport’s largest food and beverage operators.

The announcement comes days before a strike was scheduled to start.

Some terms of the deal highlighted by the union include:

Tip line for fast food and barista workers

Higher tipped benefit rate

Wage increases for cooks, utility workers and engineers

Access to affordable dependent health insurance coverage

“These workers showed incredible courage and unity,” said Adil Beker, an organizer with UNITE HERE Local 17. “This deal delivers historic raises, real health care access, and fairness across classifications that have been overlooked for far too long. We are proud of what our members won.” 

The agreement covers about 200-250 employees across MSP’s two terminals, including workers at Shake Shack, Chili’s, Starbucks, Auntie Anne’s, Moe’s, Smashburger, Chick-fil-A, The Cocktail Room, Bottle Rocket, Firehouse Subs, The Wild Sports Bar, The Market Place and Hissho Sushi.

“This agreement is a long time coming,” said Victor Arreole, a cook for HMSHost. “We fought for more than a year to win back what we lost during the pandemic, and we’re finally getting the wages and benefits our families deserve. This contract is going to change lives.” 
The post Strike averted: MSP airport food workers reach tentative contract agreement first appeared on KSTP.com 5 Eyewitness News.