Some Dodger Stadium Workers Planning Event Amid Labor Negotiations: Report

On April 2, 2024, the tour guides working at Dodger Stadium elected to join IATSE Local B-192. In May, it was reported that they were seeking a pay increase from the minimum wage in Los Angeles.

A petition on Change.org authored in May by "the tour guides of Dodger Stadium" claimed that they were "the lowest-paid workers at the stadium." Eisen reports that the tour guides are still negotiating with the Dodgers for higher wages and benefits.

A job listing for a Tour Lead recently posted (and removed) by the Dodgers listed the pay rate at $20 per hour, while noting that "compensation rates vary based on job-related factors, including experience, job skills, education, and training." The minimum wage in Los Angeles increased to $17.87 per hour on July 1.

As Eisen points out, the living wage for even one adult with no children in Los Angeles County is $27.81 (according to MIT), and increases in increments based on the number of adults and children living in the household.

Tour guide Cat Hutchinson told The Hollywood Reporter in April of last year that the demand for tours of the park — especially the number of Japanese-language tours — was “incredible” once Shohei Ohtani signed with the Dodgers in December 2023. In the months that followed, the guides were hoping for a pay raise in concert with their growing workload.

Raising public awareness of current and desired working conditions is a common negotiating tactic among labor unions. The tour guides who authored the change.org petition (which counted 48 signatures before it closed) also claimed "we work tirelessly in extreme heat, often in temperatures soaring over 100 degrees, without any form of inclement weather pay. We are required to work holidays like Memorial Day, Labor Day, and the Fourth of July with no holiday pay while being denied the basic dignity of rest on days most Americans spend with their families."

The Dodgers did not comment on the topic of the leaflets or the negotiations with the tour guides and their union.