A union representing the largest group of food service workers at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is ending a strike against the largest concessionaire after 10 days.
The walkout by HMS Host employees represented by Unite Here Local 11 was over wages, health insurance and retirement contributions and followed four years of negotiations, according to the union.
The union said Wednesday that its workers would return to work Thursday and that their representatives would return to the negotiating table.
“Our intention with our strike was to bring more attention to the company’s stinginess after four years of negotiations, and to do it at a time when the company would be forced to recognize the value of our labor most — Thanksgiving,” union member Victoria Stahl said in a press release. “We did that and now we are ready to go back to the negotiating table.”
The union had said when the strike began Nov. 22 that workers would remain on strike until HMS Host agreed to meet their demands.
The company said when the strike began, it offered substantial wage increases, a bonus and benefits that include paying 90% of employees’ health care costs.
