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Sky Harbor restaurant, concession workers strike for 3rd time

Workers at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport walked out on strike Tuesday. This is the third walkout since workers voted to authorize a strike in September, seeking better wages and working conditions.

SSP America is a subcontractor with the city of Phoenix that employs hundreds of workers at airport restaurants and concessions. Workers striking Tuesday said that they’ve seen lack of staffing shut restaurants down during strikes.

Unite Here Local 11 is the union representing them. In a statement, the union said this latest demonstration is a response to SSP changing its payroll system without negotiating.

Workers have also accused managers of firing, suspending or disciplining employees since a second strike in November.

The union filed unfair labor charges related to these allegations with the National Labor Relations Board last month.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The story has been updated to correct the period of time the strikes occurred. 

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Kirsten Dorman is a field correspondent at KJZZ. Born and raised in New Jersey, Dorman fell in love with audio storytelling as a freshman at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2019.