{"id":164534,"date":"2026-02-05T02:41:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T02:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/164534\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T02:41:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T02:41:08","slug":"dodger-stadium-tour-guides-failed-to-unionize-but-got-their-pay-raise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/164534\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodger Stadium tour guides failed to unionize but got their pay raise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Win-win might be overstating the outcome. But when the Dodgers<\/a> emailed their roughly 55 tour guides Wednesday to say they were getting the pay raise they sought during a failed attempt to unionize, there must have been more smiles than frowns. <\/p>\n

The Dodgers and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees<\/a> reached an agreement in October, but ratification of the pact by the union failed by one vote.<\/a> A second vote also narrowly failed. Then in January the tour guides voted to decertify the union, meaning the pay raise and increased stadium security on non-game days IATSE and the Dodgers had agreed upon were off the table.<\/p>\n

Not for long. The Dodgers bumped up the guides\u2019 pay from $17.87 to $24 an hour \u2014 the same increase they would have gotten under the scrapped union contract. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s hardly Kyle Tucker money<\/a>: The Dodgers\u2019 new right fielder signed a contract for $240 million over four years, an average annual value of $60 million. The Dodgers will pay the tour guides a grand total of about $650,000 in 2026 \u2014 $170,000 of that reflecting the raise of about $3,000 per person. Tucker will make 92 times the entire tour guide payroll annually.<\/p>\n

Dodger Stadium tours have become increasingly popular \u2014 generating more than $1 million a year in revenue \u2014 because of recent stadium renovations, two consecutive World Series championships and the signings of Japanese stars<\/a> Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tour program has grown so much in the age of Ohtani,\u201d said Ray Lokar, a veteran Dodgers tour guide whose full-time career was as a high school coach and athletic director for nearly 40 years. \u201cThe visibility and security responsibilities have been amplified. It\u2019s grown from a mom\u2010and\u2010pop operation of a dozen people showing folks around the stadium to a multimillion-dollar asset.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tours now take place every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year\u2019s Day. The burgeoning demand has caused breaches in stadium security, with guides flagging instances of tour participants entering the top deck with backpacks and even rolling suitcases going unchecked. <\/p>\n

The union agreement included a promise by the Dodgers to beef up security. Some guides worried that the decertification would mean the team might continue to ignore their safety concerns. However, the letter to tour guides announcing the raise also addressed stadium security without offering specifics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want you to know that we hear you, team, and we see you,\u201d wrote Kayla Rodiger, Dodgers senior manager of tours. \u201cYour concerns are valid, and I\u2019ll be working closely with our front office colleagues to ensure we make a sincere and meaningful effort to address them. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat being said, we are actively discussing security issues around the stadium, and I hope to have an update for you on your Top Deck concerns soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicole Miller, president of IATSE Local B-192, led the union negotiations that fell short of a contract but likely nudged the Dodgers into addressing the pay and security issues on their own. <\/p>\n

\u201cMake no mistake, our IATSE Local B-192 bargaining team\u2019s efforts were crucial in the tour guides obtaining a significant wage increase, and we hope they follow up on their promise to increase security,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

The letter from Rodiger also said that the Dodgers\u2019 longtime practice of offering tour guides comp tickets would continue. The perk of four reserve-level tickets for each of the 13 homestands in a season is worth $2,600 assuming the tickets are valued at $50 each. Miller said that in 2024 only three tour guides took all 52 tickets; on average, each guide took 32.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers refused to mention free tickets in the union agreement because they said other part-time union employees would demand the same perk. Still, the uncertainty surrounding the tickets kept several guides from voting for union representation. <\/p>\n

The contentious negotiations and near 50-50 split among the membership prompted veteran tour guide Cary Ginell to retire, sending a letter Jan. 23 to several of the Dodgers\u2019 top executives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m writing to let you know that the tour program has become a dysfunctional battle between pro and anti-union factions with resentment and animosity on both sides,\u201d wrote Ginell, a Grammy-nominated author<\/a> of more than a dozen books on American music. \u201cAs an executive, you should be concerned about this, because it reflects on the entire Dodger organization. <\/p>\n

\u201cAbove all, I wanted what was best for the tour guides, especially the younger ones who struggle to earn a living by working multiple jobs, but come to work afraid of who will be reporting on them and what threats might occur due to the absence of building security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Less than two weeks later, the Dodgers responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past two years, our department has thrived, earning recognition across the Dodgers organization, the league, and the City of Los Angeles,\u201d Rodiger wrote to the tour guides. \u201cYour ability to stay focused and uphold our standards to continue to give World Champion level tours has not gone unnoticed, and I promise you all that your contributions to this organization are not taken for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Win-win might be overstating the outcome. But when the Dodgers emailed their roughly 55 tour guides Wednesday to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[14712,217,426,6205,79558,48,52,51,1838,47,50,49,79559,79557,79555,211,79556,2328,56699,79560,72],"class_list":["post-164534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-agreement","tag-day","tag-dodgers","tag-guide","tag-kayla-rodiger","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-letter","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-nicole-miller","tag-pay-raise","tag-stadium-security","tag-ticket","tag-tour-guide-wednesday","tag-union","tag-union-contract","tag-veteran-dodgers-tour-guide","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}