Strike impacts production of Minnesota United's final regular season home match
Saturday night's Minnesota United FC match against the LA Galaxy could not be streamed on Apple's MLS Season Pass, after union members called a strike.
Members of IATSE Local 745, who work on the in-house production team at Allianz Field, picketed outside the stadium ahead of the match-up.
They’ve been seeking a contract for several months after the union was first recognized last year.
“We don’t think they're taking us seriously so we're going to show them that we're very serious and we're not going to go to work today if we're not going to get a new contract or our first contract,” said union member Josiah Wollan before the match.
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Fellow IATSE members who provide key elements of Apple’s production also chose not to work in solidarity.
“The decision by these individuals will impact several areas of live production capabilities,” the team said in a statement.
“We apologize to our fans and viewers for the inconvenience.”
The match was made available with stripped-down production on the MLS league website.
The walkout comes amid a tumultuous time for the franchise. On Friday, it parted ways with Adrian Heath, who had been the head coach for the franchise since it joined MLS in 2017. A seven-game winless streak heading into Saturday night left Minnesota United on the verge of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2018.