A GROUP of hospitality workers from Boston, Massachusetts, have travelled to Liverpool this week to rally support in their ongoing battle for better pay and conditions at Fenway Park — the home of Major League Baseball team the Boston Red Sox — it was reported today by the Liverpool Echo.

The workers, members of union UNITE HERE Local 26, are locked in a dispute with outsourcing giant Aramark, which manages food and beverage services at the stadium.

While neither the Boston Red Sox nor its parent company, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), are formally part of the dispute, the workers have made their way across the Atlantic to appeal directly to FSG founder and Liverpool FC principal owner John Henry, urging him to support their fight for fair treatment.

The workers, backed in Liverpool by Unite the Union North West, told the Echo they are in negotiations with Aramak about pay, saying their wages do not keep up with the current cost of living in Boston.

The group delivered a letter to Mr Henry at LFC’s city centre office on Thursday, calling on him to use his influence. They hope their presence in the city, timed to coincide with Liverpool FC’s opening match of the Premier League season, will shine a light on their campaign.

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, vendor Austin Petruzziello, 29, who has worked at Fenway Park for nine years, said: “I’m a vendor at Fenway Park, up and down the aisles, selling peanuts. I’ve been there nine years and in the nine years my department hasn’t got a raise at all. That’s why I’m here fighting.

“Our contract expired at the end of December and we’ve been working without a contract for more than eight months now, so we just want to get this thing done, get it over with.

“We think that getting John Henry’s attention could get him to step in. The way to do that would be Liverpool’s opening day.”

The group also planned to hand out leaflets around Anfield before Liverpool’s clash with Bournemouth last night after the Morning Star went to print.

Aramark told the Echo it is committed to bargaining in good faith to reach a settlement.