(SAN JOSE, Calif.) — Today, tour guides at the Winchester Mystery House have walked off the job on a one-day unfair labor practice (ULP) strike after management’s failure to bargain in good faith for over a year.
The tour guides, who organized with Teamsters Local 856 in 2025, lead thousands of visitors through the infamous mystery mansion’s halls each year. The ULP strike comes after management failed to discuss the usage of tour guides’ image and likeness for marketing promotion materials at the bargaining table, instead approaching tour guides directly and having them sign waivers.
“All we’re asking for is a fair contract,” said Emma Garcia Jones, a tour guide and San Jose native. “This house has been a cornerstone of San Jose’s history for over 100 years now, long before this was Silicon Valley. My coworkers and I have the privilege of sharing that legacy as storytellers connecting with people from all over the world. We spend a significant amount of time on tour highlighting Sarah Winchester’s generosity as an employer. Multiple free meals per day, good wages, and a place for workers and their families to live. Workers were able to build their lives here, because they were well taken care of. And while it’s a beautiful legacy, it’s not one that management at Winchester Mystery House is living up to. Workers deserve respect and Sarah knew that.”
The tour guides, many who were born and raised in the area, are feeling the pressure of the rising cost of living while management drags their feet at the bargaining table on wages, health care, and longevity benefits.
The workers are also fighting for caps on the size of tour groups to keep guests safe. The mansion spans 24,000 square feet with 160 rooms and is known for having mysterious oddities like staircases leading nowhere. The over century-old house contains potential dangers due to improper ventilation, room sizes not built for a large capacity of visitors at one time, and 47 stairways that are navigated on any given tour.
“We first organized with the Teamsters because we knew that with the strength of a union behind us, we could finally fight for the respect we deserve,” said J. Jaramillo, a tour guide who has worked at the mansion for over five years. “We spend every day preserving Sarah Winchester’s legacy, a legacy that stood shoulder to shoulder with workers. We’ve been at the bargaining table for over a year; we aren’t asking for even half of what Sarah gave every worker without question. We are asking management to remember that the workers who built this mansion to preserve Sarah’s legacy mattered, and so do the workers who keep it alive today. We’re asking for a good wage, better working conditions, and good-faith bargaining from management. Because our jobs aren’t just a mystery. These are the jobs that pay our bills, put food on our tables, and help us survive in one of the most expensive regions in the country.”
“Workers have been the backbone of this mansion since its existence,” said Veronica Diaz, Teamsters Local 856 Central Coast Division Director and lead negotiator. “When the tour guides organized last year, they knew this was going to be a battle with management, however they are united and will continue to lead the fight at the bargaining table. Together we will solve the mystery of management’s bad faith bargaining and secure a strong first contract.”
Founded in 1949, Teamsters Local 856 represents more than 25,000 hardworking members in the San Francisco Bay Area, North Bay, Sacramento, and Central Valley communities.
For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Alex Banash, (510) 418-2612, alexandra@teamjc7.org
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