Workers Demand Fair Wages Ahead of World Cup
As the World Cup countdown ticks toward 11 June, the tension building in several US host cities has little to do with tactics, formations or squad selections. It’s coming from the people who will feed, serve and welcome the crowds — and who are now threatening to walk away just as the world arrives.
Strike votes in World Cup’s backyard
In Los Angeles, the warning siren has already sounded. About 2,000 hospitality workers at SoFi Stadium, represented by Unite Here Local 11, have voted by a thumping 96% margin to authorize a strike as they push for a new contract with higher wages and protections from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Cashiers, dishwashers, cooks, bartenders, concessions workers, food attendants — the entire matchday engine room — now have the power to down tools at any moment. The US men’s national team is due to open its World Cup campaign against Paraguay at SoFi on 12 June. The stadium could be full. The kitchens and bars might not be.
“We’re just trying to make things fair,” said Eva Miles, a bartender at SoFi since it opened in 2021. For her, this is not an abstract labor dispute. It’s rent, fuel, time. She spends two hours commuting each way. Some colleagues travel even further because the wages on offer don’t come close to covering life near the gleaming arena.
“Without us, they don’t have a stadium. Are they going to cook? Are they going to pour those drinks? Are they going to serve these people?” she said. Workers are pushing for pay above $30 an hour. Miles has watched the money pour into the venue and into the World Cup project and cannot square it with the struggle in her own life.
“Let’s see them live on our wage, let’s see them raise a family,” she said. “I know they’re spending a lot of money on this Fifa World Cup, so I don’t understand why we can’t get what we want and everybody be happy.”
Immigration fears collide with football’s showpiece
Pay is only part of the fight. Unite Here, the ACLU of Southern California and LAANE have filed a formal complaint with the California privacy protection agency and the state department of justice over Fifa’s accreditation rules, which they say force workers to reveal immigration information to work at this summer’s tournament.
For a union whose members include immigrants from nearly 200 countries, the concern is immediate and personal. Unite Here traces its roots back to the 1912 Bread and Roses strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, a movement led by immigrant textile workers. That history hangs over this moment.
“They experience the effects of anti-immigrant policy and rhetoric every day, and they don’t need the added stress of tracking ICE agents at their workplaces,” said Enrique Fernández, the union’s general vice-president for immigration, civil rights and diversity.
SoFi Stadium declined to comment, pointing instead to Legends Global, the concessionaire that employs the workers. Legends tried to project calm.
“Legends Global has enjoyed a strong relationship with Unite Here Local 11 for more than a decade and remains committed to reaching a fair agreement through good faith negotiations,” a spokesperson said in an email. The company promised an “outstanding hospitality experience” for fans at the World Cup matches in Los Angeles. The union’s strike vote suggests that experience is far from guaranteed.
Seattle hotel staff push back
The unrest is not confined to California. In Seattle, where Lumen Field will stage six World Cup matches, workers at the Embassy Suite Hilton have also moved to the brink.
Around 100 hotel employees, represented by Unite Here Local 8, voted 94% in favor of a strike authorization. They want wage increases, year-round health insurance, staffing improvements and the same ICE protections being demanded in Los Angeles.
“We need the wages to improve,” said front desk worker Hayden Eyerly. He pointed to annual raises of roughly $0.80 an hour over the life of the contract — a number that simply disappears against rising costs, especially fuel.
The financial squeeze is not the only pressure. Eyerly said some staff lose health insurance during the tourism offseason when hours drop, and he argued that staffing levels have never fully recovered from the pandemic. The result is burnout.
“Everyone is very tired. Every department has been working on a skeleton crew,” he said. “We’re trying to make real changes, a real positive impact in our lives. We all deserve to work one job, we all deserve to come home and have the energy to be there for our families.”
Many of his colleagues are immigrants, Eyerly added, but have been advised by immigration attorneys not to speak publicly for fear of retaliation affecting their status. Their silence hangs over the dispute.
A Hilton spokesperson said the hotel has contingency plans if a strike hits and insisted the company “remains committed to negotiating in good faith to reach a fair and reasonable agreement that benefits both our valued Team Members and our hotel.”
Philadelphia eyes a deadline
On the other side of the country, Philadelphia’s World Cup preparations carry a similar edge. Workers at six hotels represented by Unite Here Local 274 have set a strike deadline of 12 June, with contracts expired and no new agreements in place.
The city is braced for an estimated $770m economic boost from the tournament. The workers say they want their share of that windfall.
“The hotels have the money to give us what we deserve,” said Maciah Magloughlin, a server at the Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District. Staff there are demanding substantial wage hikes, a cap of 15 rooms per day for housekeepers, ICE protections and more affordable health coverage for dependents.
“What we’re fighting for is that the people who hold this industry up on their back also get a piece of that,” Magloughlin said. For many, the basics are at stake: school fees, time off, groceries. “That’s not fair, especially when we’ve got such a big summer coming.”
The Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District responded with a familiar corporate line, saying it respects workers’ rights to engage in legally protected activity and is focused on reaching a “fair contract” while ensuring guests enjoy their stay.
A World Cup built on uneasy ground
As the World Cup approaches, the stadiums are almost ready, the broadcast plans are in place, and the tickets are sold. Yet in Los Angeles, Seattle and Philadelphia, the people who will actually make the tournament function are warning they may not be there unless their demands are met.
The world will tune in for the football. The question hanging over these host cities is whether the workers behind the spectacle will still be on the job when the first whistle blows.
