Concession company buses in workers for Twins games

Published 10:27 am Monday, April 18, 2016

MINNEAPOLIS — The company that operates Target Field concessions has reached beyond Minnesota’s borders to find enough workers for the Twins’ home games.

Delaware North Sports Service bused in about 80 of its Wisconsin employees for Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels, said Pete Spike, a general manager for Delaware North. He said the company can’t find enough part-time employees in the Twin Cities, despite the job fairs Delaware North has held, KARE-TV reported.

“We’ve had to reach out to properties in Milwaukee and Green Bay,” he said, adding that the company got help from another 65 employees from Chicago for Friday and Saturday’s games at Target Field.

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Spike said the company pays for transportation — about $1,500 to $2,000 — travel time and lodging, in addition to a worker’s hourly wage.

“We’re seeing we don’t have the supply that we don’t have in the past,” he said. They’re looking for at least a 100 positions including prep cooks, retail cashiers and dishwashers, Spike said.

The group Neighborhoods Organizing for Change is critical of the company’s hiring and wants to know why Delaware North was outsourcing jobs when the unemployment rate among African-Americans in Minnesota is so high.

“The notion they have to go to Chicago, Green Bay or Milwaukee when there are people who are on West Broadway is absolutely outrageous,” the NOC’s Mike Griffin says.

Delaware North said it has two more job fairs this month, April 21 and April 28, at the ballpark.