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100s Of Food Workers Join Picket Line Outside AT&T Park

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- More than 750 people who work concessions at San Francisco Giants' AT&T Park Saturday morning launched a one-day strike as their union bargains for better wages, benefits and job security, a union spokeswoman said.

The strike by the union UNITEHERE Local 2, against the Giants' food and beverage subcontractor Centerplate, was taking place during Saturday afternoon's game between the Giants and the Colorado Rockies, union spokeswoman Nischit Hegde said.

Several hundred union members joined the picket lines outside AT&T at 3rd and King Streets late Saturday morning well before the game's 1 p.m. first pitch, Hegde said.

The strikers urged fans not to patronize Centerplate's food and drink concessions, but did not prevent them from entering the park, Hegde said.

A second union, Teamster Local 7, that represents outdoor concessions that walk in the stands, are not on strike but endorsed UNITEHERE's picket line and are not selling Saturday, according to Hegde.

Local 2's fixed concession workers, who sell beer, hot dogs, peanuts, garlic fries and other foods, want "job security and respect," a more than 25-cent-per-hour increase and benches to sit on at food outlets during breaks, Hegde said.

Centerplate has a large mark up, perhaps up to 55 percent, on its concessions, that includes $10.25 for a cup of beer, Hegde said

"Not all that money is going to the workers," Hegde said.

Giants spokeswoman Shana Daum issued a statement expressing disappointment that Centerplate and the union were unable to agree on a new contract.

"We continue to urge both parties to get back to the bargaining table and to have productive discussions so the matter can be resolved as quickly as possible," Daum said.

"This dispute is between Centerplate and Local 2, not the Giants," Daum said.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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