Drake fans may go thirsty if Barclays Center concession workers vote to strike

Drake fans may go thirsty at his Brooklyn concert at the Barclays Center this week if the union that represents the venue’s bartenders, servers and cooks decides to strike in an effort to win better wages and benefits.

The workers are set to vote Monday on whether or not to authorize a walkout, the same day that the Canadian rap star starts his four-day run at the Atlantic Terminal stadium.

Though they won’t be walking out that day, they may decide to put the draft beer on pause the day after depending on how Levy, the concession company that employs them, responds to their demands.

Additionally, New York Liberty fans may have to toast the WNBA women’s basketball team at a bar outside the Barclays Center during the team’s five-day home stretch that starts Wednesday and ends July 28.

The union that represents concession workers at the venue, UniteHere! Local 100, said that they hope the strike can be avoided, but they’re prepared to do what’s necessary to increase wages and health insurance.

“They came here eight years ago with the promise to make Barclays Center a place with good jobs,” said UniteHere! Local 100 president Jose Maldonado. “We haven’t achieved that yet.”

Maldonado is asking Levy, a national concession company that also contracts with Madison Square Garden, to increase the hourly wages for all its workers so that the lowest wage is $20 an hour.

The union also wants the company to extend health insurance to all of its employees.

Workers at Barclays have seen their hours diminished after the New York Islanders got their own stadium on Long Island.

With fewer events since the hockey team skated, most of the 650 workers in the union are forced to work other gigs to pay the bills.

Nyla Andrews, 41, who helps coordinate public-facing concessions with “back of the house” supplies, said she and her coworkers are struggling to make ends meet.

“The reason we’re asking for more money is because we haven’t gotten a raise in a year,” she said. “The cost of living in New York City has gone up.”

She has a second job as an extra on film sets, but since the Writers Guild of America strike, that job, too, has dried up.

“The summertime is a little slow with the Liberty games and the concerts, but that’s the only way you can get hours there,” she said.

Only 65 of the workers are eligible for health insurance because they work enough hours to qualify, officials said.

Juanita Jacox, 40, who runs the corporate boxes at the stadium, has a second job as head cashier at a Crown Heights supermarket because working at Barclays doesn’t cover the bills.

“I’m in the fight because I really feel like we deserve a raise,” she said. “When I first started working there I thought I was going to have a good job and only have to work one job, but I’m still working my second job in a supermarket. I feel like one job should be enough.”

The concession company, Levy, is no stranger to threats of job actions. Last July, workers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles threatened the company with a walkout ahead of the All-Star Game in order to get health care benefits and higher wages. And in March in Chicago, the UniteHere! local threatened a strike at the United Center before the men’s Big Ten basketball tournament.

Both disputes were resolved before a job action occurred.

The company said that they believe the Barclays Center situation will also be settled before fans are affected.

“We value our team members and we’re committed to the bargaining process with UNITE HERE Local 100, which represents them at Barclays Center,” spokesman Kevin Memolo said. “The bargaining process began with our first meeting on June 5th, and we are optimistic we will reach a fair agreement that shows our team members how much they are valued.”

If a strike does happen, fans determined to go see the team or the hip-hop artist will have to wade through picket lines to get inside, union officials said.

The union said that they are hoping to avoid that, but it may be necessary to get what they want.

“New York is becoming only for the very rich or the very poor — there’s no middle class,” Andrews said. “I’m a New Yorker in my heart, but more and more people are moving out because you can’t afford it.”