Aquarium Food Service Workers Approve Union Contract

After months of discussions and actions, employees in the restaurant and cafe at the Monterey Bay Aquarium voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new agreement with their employer, S.S.A.

S.S.A., a food service company, took over the operation of the Aquarium food services in February 2015.

The contract ratification vote, held Wednesday September 9th, was 92% YES! The Aquarium Cafe and Cindy’s Restaurant workers are represented by UNITE HERE Local 483.

The new 4-year contract agreement calls for Back Pay (dating back to April, 2015), wage hikes of +$2.00 an hour throughout the contract term, substantially lowers the amount that employees contribute toward their health insurance costs, improves paid vacations, holidays, and sick leave!

Cynthia Corres, a 10 year cashier and barista said, “Building our Union Committee was the key to obtaining all the improvements in our contracts. Our new agreement means a lot for our families. The union works because we do. It was a great job by all my co-workers.”

UNITE HERE Local 483 represents over 1300 Hospitality workers in the Monterey Bay area.