Oakland A's game day workers will likely lose jobs at end of season
OAKLAND, Calif. - Some office staff and game day workers for the Oakland Athletics have been informed they will likely lose their jobs at the end of the season due to the move to Sacramento, which requires a smaller staff.
The game day workers, who have fought for union wages, will likely be let go on the final game day.
While A's players and senior management will transition to Sacramento and Las Vegas, game day employees have just 74 days of pay left.
Bartender Tony Evans, a 10-year veteran, is among them.
"This is the time of year where a lot of us workers pay our bills from working for the A's," Evans said.
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The food service alone employs a pool of 800 workers, not including ushers, security personnel, janitors, and facilities staff.
"You got so many people who will be out of healthcare from May all the way to October, which is really bad; moms, dads, grandparents, everything; seniors. You have younger people with families and small children," Evans noted.
Vanessa Riles, a campaign coordinator for East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE), said that many of the jobs are unionized and pay well above minimum wage.
"Another job that they may find may not have that same level of support," said Riles.
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"A lot of them are from the area in East Oakland where the Coliseum is located, which is where we already know is an economically disadvantaged area. Where people don't have enough economic security, don't have enough housing security, and don't have enough job security," Riles added.
Many workers feel they've faced repeated slights.
"All of us employees, we stayed loyal to them even though they wasn't putting a decent product on the field. When they have a winning product on the field, we all do well," said Evans. He added, "We haven't heard anything about severance pay for us workers."
The last home game is scheduled for September 26.