Foodservice Workers Picket O’Hare Airport; Say Health Insurance Rates Have Grounded Wallets

At 4 a.m. every day, Ambar Vera starts her shift pouring coffee at the Starbucks in Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. After a year and half on the job, Ambar reportedly makes $6.55 an hour, and pays $140 per month for her health insurance.

“I’m trying to save enough money to bring my four-year old son from Ecuador to live with me,” said Vera, “but with the wages I make at the airport, I don’t know when I will be able to see him again.”

That’s why Vera was joining her co-workers in picketing outside the terminal on Friday, carrying signs that read, “Starbucks Unfair to Workers.” Contract negotiations with their employer, HMS Host, broke off late on Saturday night.

HMS Host operates several foodservice outlets in O’Hare under contract with the city, including Starbuck’s, Chili’s, TCBY, Wolfgang Puck, Cinnabon, and Eli’s Cheesecake.

Under the expired union contract, the starting wage for HMS Host workers is $6.35 per hour. Despite these low wages, workers must reportedly pay between $90- $175 for individual health insurance, and $250- $480 per month to cover their families. Less than half of the 900 HMS Host employees at O’Hare are reportedly covered by the company’s health plan.

“Over 75 million travelers come through this airport every year,” said Henry Tamarin, president of UNITE HERE Local 1, Chicago’s 15,000-member hospitality and foodservice workers’ union. “O’Hare is the biggest and busiest airport in the nation, but the workers who keep things running get left behind.”

Tamarin noted that HMS Host workers at Los Angeles and Las Vegas airports start at $9.42 and $10.78 per hour, respectively. Workers in both cities also reportedly enjoy free individual and family health coverage.

HMS Host is owned by an Italian conglomerate that also manages foodservice at the Illinois tollway Oases. The company reportedly made $72 million in revenues at O’Hare in 2003.