Oakland Coliseum concession workers face uncertain future ahead of A's final game
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- A thrilling victory Tuesday night for the A's. It's their first game of the final three to be held in Oakland. While there was a large crowd, we were there speaking with the stadium employees, some of whom have worked at the Coliseum for their entire life.
"Thank you Oakland! We did it!"
Smiles on the faces of Oakland A's concession workers, despite the fact that this is one of the last games at the Coliseum.
"How long have you worked here?" asked ABC7 News reporter J.R. Stone.
"Nine years."
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That's Tenisa Lyles - her sister works here at the Coliseum too, and her grandmother worked here for more than 40 years before she retired a couple seasons ago.
"Do you know what comes next after this?" asked Stone.
"Right now, we're an usher so we don't know yet," responded Lyles.
An unknown future for hundreds of employees who said working here sure was special.
"It's more sadness you know, it's sad that they're leaving and they couldn't hold on to it," said concession worker Eric Lenhart.
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"Everyone is a little sad, so we're trying to get through it."
Ai Lin Morten and I have become friends over the years at different Bay Area sporting events. She's been working A's games for 15 plus years, and before that came to the Coliseum as a kid - but even she'll tell you. She has missed one or two of the historic A's games.
"The 20 game winning streak, I missed that one. I took a day off," said Ai Lin, laughing. "Oh we're all like family here. If someone gets sick here, they always find out how you're doing and call - and so that's a great thing."
Certainly a family atmosphere among employees, but the union that represents these workers is angry.
"Our membership is really upset about yesterday's negotiations around severance," said Yulisa Elenes who is vice president of the Unite Here Local 2 Union.
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That union represents around 400 of these stadium workers who officially work for Aramark. Elenes fears that the workers could be left without severance pay and health care benefits.
"I want to say to the organization and John Fisher, it's not too late to do the right thing for these workers and the community here in Oakland," said Elenes.
For now though, these employees are making the best of their final moments at the Coliseum.
"When that final game happens on Thursday, have you thought about it? Do you think there will be tears in your eyes?" asked Stone.
"Yeah there probably will be," said Ai Lin. "A lot of people have been here longer than I, but we all gonna miss this place."
