MIA food workers threaten strike to protest concessionaire

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article4450844.html

BY PATRICIA [e-mail]
12/12/2014 5:16 PM 12/12/2014 5:34 PM

A union that represents about half the restaurant workers at Miami International Airport says it’s ready to walk off the job in the days before Christmas, just as MIA enters one of the busiest travel seasons of the year.

The drastic move could leave travelers hungry and thirsty at dozens of MIA’s 78 restaurants — though the management concessionaire, HMSHost, says it has a plan of some sort to keep its 35 eateries open.

But members of the Unite Here Local 355 labor union say they could destabilize operations if they strike to protest contract negotiations with HMSHost. The concessionaire, among other things, wants to charge some employees for health insurance.

“We’re hoping this doesn’t happen,” said Daniel Seymour, who said he makes about $12 an hour as a cashier at the airport’s California Pizza Kitchen. “If they don’t deliver on the 22nd, then we’ll strike.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article4450844.html#storylink=cpy

FULL story and photos at link.