{"id":1013,"date":"2026-07-17T16:47:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T16:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1013"},"modified":"2026-07-17T16:47:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T16:47:46","slug":"workers-in-world-cup-host-cities-strike-or-retain-right-to-over-ice-and-wages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1013","title":{"rendered":"Workers in World Cup Host Cities Strike (or Retain Right to) Over ICE and Wages"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Did you know that Truthout is a nonprofit and independently funded by readers like you? If you value what we do, please support our work with <\/span><\/i>a donation<\/span><\/i>.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s Speech Attacks Election Integrity While Offering No Evidence of Fraud<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In a World Cup-fueled union win, concessions workers at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles have won the right to walk off the job, should ICE pose a threat to their safety.<\/p>\n

The stadium\u2019s 2,000 cooks, bartenders, dishwashers, servers, and attendants had a major piece of leverage this summer: eight scheduled World Cup matches. Their victory came days after a 96 percent vote to authorize a strike.<\/p>\n

Their next contract will expire at the end of April 2028, weeks before the Los Angeles Summer Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorkers represented by UNITE HERE Local 11 have created an important tool to keep themselves and their communities safe,\u201d said Cassandra Gomez, a senior staff attorney at the National Employment Law Project.<\/p>\n

She called the win \u201cparticularly significant\u201d because in Los Angeles, with the Supreme Court\u2019s recent approval, ICE has been sending out \u201croving patrols\u201d who operate by racial profiling instead of setting out to track down particular people.<\/p>\n

Two fatal shootings by ICE agents over the past week have stoked terror and outrage across the country. In Houston, agents shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican father of three, on his way to work at a construction site July 7. And in Maine, agents fatally shot Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old from Colombia, on July 13 in front of his wife and his three-year-old daughter. \u201cShe was still in her Bluey pajamas,\u201d a neighbor said.<\/p>\n

Members at the L.A. stadium also won significant wage increases: bartenders and servers will see a 30 percent increase in automatic tips, and non-tipped workers will return to work with a $9-per-hour raise.<\/p>\n

A Game Changer<\/h2>\n

Meanwhile in downtown Philadelphia, another World Cup host city, 200 workers at the Sheraton and Warwick hotels won contracts in June that will raise wages to $30 an hour by 2028.<\/p>\n

UNITE HERE Local 274 also won pension increases, and a decrease in daily quotas for room attendants.<\/p>\n

At the Sheraton, workers went on strike for nine days; at the Warwick, they got as far as voting to authorize a strike. Adding pressure on the hotels to settle were two more big tourist events: the country\u2019s 250th anniversary celebration and the Major League Baseball all-star game.<\/p>\n

The Sheraton strike drew support from other unions and elected officials. IATSE members refused to cross the picket line to set up for events inside. AFSCME District Council 33, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, and the Association of the Flight Attendants brought food to rallies.<\/p>\n

Local 274 campaigned for new standard-raising contracts at eight downtown hotels this year; seven of these have now settled contracts, which are aligned to expire in 2028.<\/p>\n

\u201c$30 an hour will be a game-changer for me,\u201d said Shafeek Anderson, who has worked seven years at the Sheraton. \u201cIt would mean I could actually start saving for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

6:00 AM Walkout<\/h2>\n

In Seattle, hotel workers at the Hilton Embassy Suites have been on strike since June 18.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump Under Fire for Diverting Disaster Relief Workers to Immigration Policing<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSome people left their job in the middle of their shift at 6 in the morning and joined us,\u201d said Hayden Eyerly, a front desk agent. \u201cIt was electric, and it\u2019s been electric ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019re demanding higher wages, improvements to their health plan, and the right to call out without discipline if immigration agents are in the building.<\/p>\n

Allowing workers to stay home if ICE were on the premises would \u201cjust show a little bit of humanity, if Hilton was to do that,\u201d Eyerly said. \u201cWe\u2019re just trying to preemptively prepare for anything that could happen here in Seattle like we\u2019ve seen in other parts of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the strike, Seattle has hosted five World Cup games at Lumen Field stadium, which sits just across from the hotel. \u201cWe\u2019ve had fans get on the picket line and start doing chants,\u201d Eyerly said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had some bring drums.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teamsters who pick up garbage at the hotel have refused to cross the picket line. Mayor Katie Wilson relocated an event that had been previously scheduled at the hotel.<\/p>\n

The World Cup games at the Seattle stadium have now concluded, but members are holding the line. \u201cEvery day it\u2019s frustrating, but it only makes us more resolved to see this through,\u201d Jus Adsuara, a public areas attendant at the hotel, told KING 5 News.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe people out here fighting alongside me continue to inspire me daily,\u201d Eyerly said. \u201cEven when I\u2019m having a hard time chanting because my vocal chords are shredded, I\u2019m finding the energy to continue because of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creatures of the Sea on Strike<\/h2>\n

A few miles away, workers also struck at the James Beard award-nominated oyster restaurant The Walrus and the Carpenter.<\/p>\n

Their independent union, United Creatures of the Sea, formed last year after the restaurant switched from tips to a service charge \u2014 a big pay cut. \u201cI think I stayed up all night reading up about the format for authorization cards,\u201d said former server Ford Nickel, now the union\u2019s secretary treasurer.<\/p>\n

After months of negotiations, workers voted unanimously to walk out on an unfair labor practice strike. \u201cNo one had participated in a strike before, and no one really had an idea of what this is supposed to look like,\u201d Nickel said. \u201cI was like, \u2018I don\u2019t know if people are gonna do chants, maybe they\u2019re gonna think it\u2019s hokey.\u2019 Nope! Everyone was on board.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spirit of solidarity buoyed the strikers. They visited the hotel picket lines; the hotel strikers visited theirs. Other restaurant workers brought food and water.<\/p>\n

Nickel estimated that 80 percent of would-be customers chose not to patronize the restaurant after seeing the picket. \u201cThere were people that we\u2019ve seen for the past four to six years,\u201d he said. \u201cThey were like, \u2018Oh, you did it! Ok, we\u2019ll see you when you open again, when you have a contract.\u201d<\/p>\n

After eight days on strike, the United Creatures of the Sea returned to work with a reduced service fee of 6 percent, and a return to the tipping model.<\/p>\n

Read more In Gaza, Lindsey Graham\u2019s Legacy Will Be Defending Genocide of Palestinians<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Seattle, restaurant workers walked out, while Hilton Embassy Suites employees have been on strike since June 18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nWorkers in World Cup Host Cities Strike (or Retain Right to) Over ICE and Wages - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1013\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Workers in World Cup Host Cities Strike (or Retain Right to) Over ICE and Wages - 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