Tour guides in a rift at Ravine

A vote to unionize divides those seeking a raise with some who want free-tickets perk.

- BY STEVE HENSON

MYUNG J. CHUN Los Angeles Times DODGER STADIUM tours, led by history buffs of the club, have become popular.

A large group of Dodgers fans enthusiastically answered the call during an August home game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

It was the team's eighth annual Union Night celebration, and while cheering for the Dodgers, fans also chanted for their local.

"Who are we?" a leatherlunged fan shouted.

"Teamsters!" came the reply.

The Dodgers' marketing strategy aimed at blue-collar fans of the boys in blue isn't hypocritical. The franchise reached two landmark Collective Bargaining Agreements in 2023 with the Service Employees International Union United Service Workers West (SEIUUSWW).

Although raises to the 450 employees that included ushers, security officers and groundskeepers were recognized as long overdue and took organized protests and the threat of a strike for the Dodgers to agree to a contract, the result was a decisive win for union solidarity.

More recently the franchise hasn't stood in the way of another segment of employees attempting to unionize. It has hammered out an agreement with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) representing the 55 or so Dodger Stadium tour guides-mostly part-timers whose knowledge of Dodgers history and love of the team is unsurpassed.

Yet ratifying the agreement has proved difficult because roughly half of the guides don't want to unionize. A vote in October failed to pass by a 25-24 margin with six guides abstaining.

Repeated emails by The Times to several tour guides who voted against unionizing were not answered, and the Dodgers declined to comment for this story.