Posts tagged World Cup
CA Post Editorial Board: ‘Unite Here’ needs to unite, here, to make World Cup a success
June 8, 2026 // The union, which spent piles of cash on the recent primary elections, wants to exploit the World Cup to flex its political muscle. It’s top demand has nothing to do with its contract with the stadium, or with FIFA, but is rather just a complaint about immigration enforcement. The union wants employees to be able to walk off the job if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is operating at the venue. That’s an insane demand. Essentially, the union wants illegal immigrants to be able to work at SoFi — jobs Americans, want and deserve. The unions also wants its members to be able to skip work virtually at will, whenever they decide that ICE is some kind of threat.
N.Y.C. Hotel Housekeepers Will Earn Over $100,000 Under New Contract
May 19, 2026 // “They’re going to try to offset that by raising rates,” he said. But how successful they would be is unclear, given that New York City already has the highest average room rates of any big city in the United States, at about $335 a night, Mr. Pequeno said. In the past year, New York hotels have also had the nation’s highest occupancy rate, at about 84 percent, he said. The agreement between the hotel workers and the industry comes about six weeks before the expiration of the current 14-year contract. For more than a year, union officials had been preparing for a strike in early July, just before the celebration of the 250th birthday of the United States and the final of FIFA’s World Cup tournament at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Workers at LA stadium threaten World Cup strike amid anger over ICE
April 15, 2026 // Kurt Petersen, co-president of Unite Here Local 11, outlined a slew of union demands in a letter addressed to Fifa president Gianni Infantino and Stan Kroenke, the billionaire sports mogul who built the stadium
Hotel and stadium workers can refuse work if ICE is present, union says as World Cup approaches
March 25, 2026 // The union is urging hotels, stadiums and other venues not to host or provide staging areas for ICE or Border Patrol during what it calls a period of heightened public attention. If employers choose to allow federal agents on site, the union is requesting advance notice and confirmation that workers will be permitted to leave or refuse the assignment without facing disciplinary action.
Karen Bass’ $30 per hour mandate for hotel workers sends shockwaves through the industry forcing job cuts and restaurant closures
March 8, 2026 // Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is getting backlash after signing a gradual wage hike for hotel workers into law, with a new report claiming the measure has already begun ravaging the industry. The report found that 650 workers have lost their jobs and restaurants have closed or reduced their operating hours since September when the new wage structure took effect. The law requires hotels in the city to increase the minimum wage for workers to $30 an hour in light of the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Turbulence at LAX: Union Revolt Against Airport Police Chief Cecil Rhambo Exposes Leadership Crisis Ahead of World Cup and Olympics
October 20, 2025 // Union leaders argue that while executive pay has ballooned, front-line officers are left to shoulder the burden with minimal resources. LAAPOA noted that morale and recruitment are at all-time lows even as top administrators enjoy salary hikes. Meanwhile, passenger satisfaction scores have dropped, and incidents requiring police response are rising. “Rhambo’s leadership is not only ineffective—it’s dangerous,” said one veteran officer. “When the Olympics arrive, the global spotlight will expose just how broken things are behind the scenes.”
$30 Minimum Wage Has L.A. Hotel Owners in Revolt
June 24, 2025 // Now, hotel owners have to contend with what local union leaders say will be the highest minimum wage in the country. The city council voted last month to boost the wage for workers in hotels with 60 rooms or more. Hourly pay, currently $20.32, will increase every year until it reaches $30 in 2028. The industry is mounting an effort to roll back the new minimum-wage law. Los Angeles hotel owners are petitioning to suspend the city’s new ordinance, and several hotel owners have also threatened to pull out of agreements to provide blocks of rooms during the Olympic Games. Some hoteliers say they were already eager to exit L.A., if only they could find an offramp. “We would love to sell” our L.A. hotels, said Jon Bortz, chief executive of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, which owns two hotels in the city and seven more in the L.A. area. “But nobody will buy them.”
NFL players union renews call for grass fields after Aaron Rodgers’ injury
September 14, 2023 // When the 2026 World Cup is held in North America, all 11 U.S. venues will be at NFL stadiums. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday on ESPN he is meeting with the head of FIFA next week about the World Cup. Plans currently call for host stadiums to use grass mixed with artificial surface. Lambeau Field has featured Kentucky bluegrass sod weaved in with synthetic fibers since 2018. “Something that we’re working to try to see is that a better surface for us?” Goodell said. “Because you have to look at climate too. This is not just about is the field going to be good in September? Is it also going to be good in December and January?” The current collective bargaining agreement uses science to measure injuries, with the NFL and the union using the same data. Goodell noted Rodgers had one of two Achilles tendon tears in the NFL‘s first week — the other, suffered by Baltimore’s J.K. Dobbins, occurred on grass. “That is where we make decisions, on the basis of science, not because I see an injury that I don’t like,” Goodell said.
Tourism workers seek $25 minimum wage before Olympics, World Cup in Los Angeles
June 5, 2023 // Curren Price, a Los Angeles City Council member, has proposed upping the hourly minimum wage for airport and hotel workers in the city to $25 an hour, then raising it $1 each year until 2028, bringing it to $30 an hour. He also proposed more affordable options for health care coverage. Representatives for airlines and hotels spoke against the proposed ordinance at the Economic Development Committee meeting. They said the ordinance would force them to raise prices and some small businesses would have to close, making L.A. a less attractive tourist destination.
Southern California hotel workers head for a strike authorization vote
May 31, 2023 // Union officials say they are asking for the strike authorization vote on June 8 to jump-start sluggish negotiations and convince hotel operators to seriously consider pay increases for their workers. Petersen said the union has plans to ramp up pressure on a number of other tourism companies — other hotels as well as food operators at airports, stadiums and resorts whose contracts are also set to expire June 30. He said in total more than 20,000 Southern California tourism workers covered by roughly 100 contracts will be involved in actions this summer. The union represents non-management hotel employees, including front desk clerks, housekeepers and hotel restaurant workers. Marriott International and Hilton Hotels & Resorts are among the major employers in talks with Unite Here Local 11.