The Uprising Has Begun: John Henry's Own Fenway Employees Have Voted to Strike

6/16/2025 8:20 PM

Paul Greenwood. Shutterstock Images.

There comes a time in every generation where the abuses of the people in power can no longer be tolerated, and good citizens are left with no choice but to rise up against the tyranny that has caused them to suffer. When to do nothing in the face of such oppression is an act of oppression against one's self. As Thomas Paine put it, "The strength and power of despotism consists wholly in the fear of resistance."

Well we have reached that moment. When good, red-blooded Massholes can no longer just stand idly by and watch one of their most sacred institutions be destroyed just to further enrich the richest among us while the population starves.

The Rafael Devers salary dump was the last straw. Folks have taken all they can take, and they have begun to speak out:

In the words of an obscure Monty Python skit, “I think all right-thinking people in this country are sick and tired of being told that ordinary, decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not! But I’m sick and tired of being told that I am!” That says it all for me.

John Henry and Linda Pizzuti - the King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette of the Red Sox - have pushed their subjects beyond their breaking points, and the Revolution is underway. And it's beginning from inside their Palace of Versailles on ~~Yawkey Way~~ Jersey Street:

Source - Hundreds of workers at Boston’s Fenway Park and MGM Music Hall have voted to authorize a strike over contract issues.
Unite Here Local 26 announced Sunday that more than 700 Aramark contract workers overwhelmingly voted “YES” in favor of authorizing a strike that marks the first-ever labor stoppage in the history of the 113-year-old ballpark.
The workers, whose Aramark contracts expired in December 2024, include barbacks, beer sellers, cashiers, catering servers, cooks, souvenir vendors, utility workers, and warehouse runners, among other roles. …
In a news release, Unite Here noted, "Fenway workers are paid considerably less than workers in similar stadium jobs in less expensive locales. A cashier earns $18.52 an hour at Fenway and $21.25 an hour at Marlins Park in Miami. Meanwhile, a beer costs $10.79 at Fenway and $5.14 at Marlins Park."
The union has asked the public to respect picket lines by not purchasing any food or beverages from inside the ballpark.

So they're going from balls and strikes to just a strike. Umpire disputes to a labor dispute. From ticketing to picketing. From the Green Monster to … ah, forget it. I'll leave the wordplay to the local news reporters.

Admittedly, labor disputes can be complicated. You're never going to get the whole truth from either side. Statements are made to strengthen one's bargaining position, often with little regard for the truth. We can all acknowledge that.

But it's hard to argue with math. Specifically, "A cashier earns $18.52 an hour at Fenway and $21.25 an hour at Marlins Park in Miami. Meanwhile, a beer costs $10.79 at Fenway and $5.14 at Marlins Park." Or having the third highest average ticket price in MLB at $100-$115, behind only the two teams that were in the World Series last year, and being .500 or worse for each of the past four seasons. All the while cutting payroll:

And buying up every other sports entity you can lay your grubby, bony hands on:

I can practically hear the official statements from Sox ownership's Crisis PR Team now. This is a dispute between a vendor and its employees. The Red Sox are not involved. These are just contractual business partners. We support working people and want a swift resolution so our fans and their families can continue to have a great experience at America's Most Beloved Ballpark [tm], blah blah blah. Because that's the kind of thing despots always say when things go tits up on their watch. They love the absolute power when they're wielding it to their own benefit. But when the vox populi speak out against their corruption, then it's "There's nothing I could do! It's out of my hands! I'm just an all-powerful dictator! Blame someone else and spare me!!!"

Not this time. You can't simultaneously be running the franchise into the ground, putting all your investment into your other sports properties, moor your superyacht that costs more than the town I live in right in the middle of Boston Harbor, all the while nickel-and-diming your service industry workers and expect a proud region with a blue collar mentality like New England just look the other way.

Do right by your beer sellers and cashiers: