WARWICK, R.I. — Alecia Rogers’ paycheck rises and falls with the foot traffic at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport, where she works as a server. Travelers leave generous tips on some days. She picks up extra shifts on others just to get by.

Even that hasn’t been enough to support her teenage son without help from her family as the cost of living climbs.

Grocery prices rose 3.9% in New England over the past year, while electricity costs surged 9.4%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Servers at the airport earn a base wage of $4.19 an hour before tips. Hosts make $16.50 an hour, just above the state’s $16 minimum wage, which is set to rise by $1 in 2027.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage calculator estimates that a livable wage in Rhode Island is $25.01 an hour for a single adult without children. It’s $45.41 an hour for someone in Rogers’ position.

“It’s embarrassing to have minimum wage jobs at one of the state airports,” Unite Here! Local 26 vice president Nancy Iadeluca said. “There’s no need for it, and we can’t have it.”

Rogers is one of 73 workers represented by Unite Here! Local 26, which is negotiating a new contract with the workers’ employer, Grove Bay Hospitality Group. Their last contract expired in 2025, and without a new deal, workers walked off the job nearly a year later.

“The prices of everything are going up, but our paychecks aren’t,” Rogers said. “Everything is staying the same.”

Food and beverage workers gathered outside the terminal June 25 dressed in matching “26 Unite Here!” shirts and carrying signs that read “On Strike at Grove Bay” before the sun rose. They chanted in rhythm: “What do we want? Contract. When do we want it? Now.”

The workers are demanding a contract that they say keeps pace with Rhode Island’s rising cost of living.

Francesco Balli, co-founder and CEO of Grove Bay, told ecoRI News in an email that the Florida-based company has offered a new agreement that would raise wages between 28% and 36%, depending on the position, over the life of the agreement.

He added that the company is disappointed the union voted to walk out and that the restaurants will continue operating during the strike.

Unite Here! Local 26 communications director Seth Ogilvie said the company flew in temporary workers from Florida to cover the shifts rather than agree to pay union-represented workers above the minimum wage.

“It’s disrespectful,” Ogilvie said.

Balli said the company remains committed to an “open and constructive dialogue” with the union and hopes to reach an agreement on a new contract.

“Our goal has always been to reach an agreement that supports our employees while ensuring the long-term sustainability of our company and the customers we serve,” he wrote.