Dodger Tour Guides’ attempt at unity becomes a war of attrition

A large group of Dodger fans enthusiastically answered the call during an August home game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was the annual celebration of the Eighth Night Ban, and while cheering for the Dodgers, fans also sought their place.

“Who are we?” Screaming leather fans.

“Parties!” came the answer.

The Dodger’s Marketing Strategy Targeting the Blue-Collar Fans of the Boys in Blue was hypocritical. The franchise reached a collective bargaining agreement through 2023 with the International United Servicer Worker (Seiu-USWW).

Although it increased to 450 workers including workers, security managers and security managers were recognized for a long time and took organized protests and the threat of a strike for the Dodgers to wake up with the contract, the result was a decisive victory for the union.

Recently the franchise is not standing as another part of the workforce is trying to unite. It issued an agreement with the International Alliance of the Interatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) representing 55 Dodger Stadium Tour Guides – mainly Part-timers whose knowledge of Dodger history and passion for the team is unmatched.

However, reaching an agreement has proven difficult because almost half of the guidelines do not want to be unified. Voting in October failed to pass the 25-24 mark with six indicators dropping out. Emails sent twice to several visitors who voted against the union were not answered, and the Dodgers declined to comment on the matter.

The directors who supported the agreement presented the vote again on December 15-17, and both sides spent the last few weeks lobbying men as important as ineffective. The split has affected morale, tourism executives say, at a time when Dodger stadium tours have been less popular, which the Dodgers described during union negotiations as a powerful spending deal. “

“Demand has increased significantly in the last two years,” said Tour guide Ginell. “It’s always been good for the Dodgers. When I joined in March 2022, the cost of the visit was $25. Now no one was under the money and no one went to us.”

Even if the Union agreement is approved, however, the fight will not be over because the management against this measure has already filed a swindle with the National Labor Realboard Board to represent the travel guides.

Although both parties suspect one of the underlying tactics of voter fraud, the main issue that divides the party is clear.

The new agreement will increase wages by 25% from $17.87 to $24 per fifth hour – about the same hour as the Seiu-Usww agreement – with 30 increases in the second and third years of the contract.

Security measures at the Stadium entrances will also be improved. The tour guides complained that the fans showing the tour are able to walk on the deck of the stadium without going through the security, sometimes even when carrying backpacks.

That lapse would end, according to a draft of the CBA obtained by the Times: “The employer will provide and thoroughly check the personnel involved in the metal detector and the search of the bag at all the designated points of entry for the purposes of the participation of the tigers’ field.”

The Union, however, may end the Dodger’s long-time practice of keeping 13 Reservations at home, a perk that costs tickets at $50 each. The prospect of that is a deal breaker for most indicators.

Travel guides present at the time of negotiations said the Dodgers refused to include free tickets in the union contract because they said other part-time union workers at the time wanted the same perk. The Dodgers made it clear that they did not terminate Perk, that the issue will not be considered in the agreement.

The price of the tickets is greater than this illusion of tour guides who work around a minimum of 60 four-hour shifts a year. However, the average tour guide works about 125 shifts – 500 hours – per year, and they will be taking extra pay from the increase in tickets.

Some less experienced tour guides felt pressure from anti-Union Veteran guides. Semaj Perry said that during his training in March, an older, respected guide convinced him to sign the renewal application. Perry has since gone to the negotiating district and studied the agreement between the Dodgers and the union.

“It’s a big financial decision thing for some of the older tour guides,” Perry said. “For some of them, this is fun to do in retirement. I took the job because I needed to pay the rent.”

Dodger stadium tours have become more popular – generating more than $1 million a year in revenue – thanks to recent stadium renovations, the brilliance of two consecutive stars and the signing of Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.

“The tour program has grown a lot in Ohtani’s years,” said Ray Lokar, guide of the Detekeran Dodger Tour Caide whose high school coach was a high school coach and athlete for nearly 40 years. “Responsibilities for visibility and security have increased. It’s growing from human performance and the pop of a few people who show people around the arena to multi-dollar assets.”

Stadium Tours now falls under the management umbrella of a newly added revenue generator called Dodgers 365, which offers year-round rentals from $50,000 for Centerfield Plaza to $12,500 for the Statium Club. In September, the LA Card Show made its Dodger Stadium Debut, drawing thousands of fans to swim and match trading cards.

While realizing that it is possible to offer free tickets is an offensive area, several guides of the tour of Veteran Guides who encourage joining the union are confused that their colleagues suspect organized workers. About all they agree on is that they love the Dodgers.

“The touring team is promoting the most important asset the Dodgers have: Their brand, 135 years of history, from Brookslyn to Dodger Stadium,” said the author of 14 books on American Music, said. “It’s a different job than any other job. We make the fans happy and pass on that history, and that’s the history that the Dodgers got for their $2 billion price tag.”

Lokar emphasized fairness as the reason why visitors should vote to allow representation by the organization.

“We must be protected, respected and connected,” she said. “We wanted to feel physically and emotionally safe, paid well, and treated like second-class citizens.”