SEIU Local 1 Issues Statement Providing Additional Transparency Regarding County CBA, Fair Employment Agreement for New Royals Stadium

KANSAS CITY, MO — Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1 – a labor union representing more than 800 stadium workers employed at the Truman Sports Complex – is issuing a correction and additional detail regarding the Fair Employment Agreement for the new stadium district. This comes after numerous statements by various “Vote No” groups have circulated, spreading incorrect and misleading information about the new agreements. We all have a responsibility to do our due diligence to ensure that community members are being provided with accurate information.

Local 1 leaders have had to answer quite a few questions from members in the last week regarding the Community Benefits Agreement between the Kansas City Royals and Jackson County (County CBA), due to this misleading information, and while we cannot comment on what is in the County CBA, we do want to correct a misunderstanding about what is not in there: Wages and worker benefits.

Some organizations and “experts” have criticized the lack of wages and worker benefits within that agreement, stating their belief that the County CBA should include things like a minimum wage floor, worker protections, and a fair path to Unionization for non-union workers both in the stadium and in the broader stadium district. Unfortunately, wages and worker benefits are preempted in Missouri by state law, so those terms cannot legally be included within the County CBA. Instead, those terms had to be housed within separate private agreements, including the Fair Employment Agreement between SEIU Local 1 and the Kansas City Royals, which has provisions for all of those things.

“It has been surprising to see ‘experts’ from other states weigh in about a so-called lack of worker benefits in the County CBA, which would actually violate Missouri state law,” said Rose Welch, SEIU Local 1 Lead Organizer for Kansas City. “Whether they’re spreading misinformation from lack of knowledge or doing so deliberately to mislead voters, it is unfair to the community and we must demand a higher standard.”

“The Royals have made significant written commitments that provide a fair path to organize and further negotiations on a living wage floor, and it’s beyond disappointing to see opponents of the new stadium mislead voters about those commitments,” said SEIU Local 1 Director for Missouri and Southern Illinois Christian Rak. “The County CBA and the Fair Employment Agreement go hand-in-hand for public benefit, so it has been concerning to see the focus on the County CBA alone.  With the stakes as high as they are for working families, with good construction jobs and good permanent jobs for decades directly impacted by this vote, it is critical that voters are receiving accurate information.”

While some groups have been telling Jackson County voters that the Royals have not agreed to “a path to Unionize workers in and around the stadium” or a “living wage floor” and claiming that the “only commitment the Royals have made to workers is to maintain the status quo by allowing currently unionized workers to maintain their unions”, the truth is that the Fair Employment Agreement, which is a legally enforceable private agreement with the Kansas City Royals, does all that and more, including provisions which ensure that Jackson County will keep good Union jobs and will generate new Union jobs in the new stadium district.

“These are exactly the worker protections we fought for as part of the Good Jobs and Affordable Housing Coalition, alongside Missouri Workers Center/Stand Up KC, Missouri Jobs with Justice, and the Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom,” said Christian Rak. “We campaigned together for over a year to achieve the Fair Employment Agreement, which we all knew had to be separate from the County CBA to satisfy state law, and we are very pleased to have successfully negotiated just about every labor term that we asked for.”

To ensure that Kansas City and Jackson County can keep good union jobs, the Fair Employment Agreement includes worker transfer protections for workers who are directly employed by the Royals as well as those who are employed by contractors, such as the concessions and janitorial workers. This includes a requirement that any workers displaced in the move, such as the Parking Lot Attendants and Tollgate Attendants, will have 60 days' notice of this displacement and will be entitled to the right of first refusal for any and all other open positions for which they are minimally qualified. Additionally, any displaced worker who does not immediately find a new position, whether it is due to qualifications or worker preference, will be held on a Preferential Hiring List for a full year, and retain their right of first refusal for any jobs that come open during that time.

To ensure that Kansas City and Jackson County can create new Union jobs, the Fair Employment Agreement ensures "labor peace" for currently non-Union workers, including a fair card check procedure and voluntary recognition — not just within the stadium itself, but across the entire stadium district. Additionally, the Fair Employment Agreement includes a provision for a living wage floor covering all employees providing post-construction labor in the stadium district, with the final negotiations set to take place once the stadium district development plans have been approved by the Kansas City Council.

“Because wages and other worker benefits are preempted in Missouri, legally enforceable private agreements like this are crucial for the success of any new stadium district,” said Rose Welch. “Although there have been valid questions around some of the agreements we've all been hearing about in the news, Local 1 can confidently say that the Fair Employment Agreement is specific, measurable, and enforceable.”

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Service Employees International Union Local 1 unites 45,000 workers throughout the Midwest, including janitors, security officers, airport workers, higher education faculty, food service workers, and others. Local 1 is committed to improving the lives of its members and all working people by winning real economic justice and standing at the forefront of the fight for immigrant, racial and environmental justice.