By Abby Sewell 

Workers at an exclusive private business club in downtown Los Angeles walked off the job Thursday in protest of management's demands for a six-month wage freeze.

About 150 California Club employees were planning to join in the strike.

The California Club, founded in 1887, is one of the bastions of Los Angeles' old-school elite. Its members over the years have included such powerbrokers as Gaylord Wilshire, William Mulholland, Norman Chandler and Richard J. Riordan.