The Fair Games Coalition, which is comprised of more than 60 organizations, launch a campaign for a New Deal for our Future to ensure the games benefit working families. Over the next three years, Los Angeles will become the first city to host the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic & Paralympic Games back-to-back, making it the mega-events capital of the world. We are demanding that these mega-events serve our communities and leave a positive legacy. We are calling on LA28 and corporations to negotiate a New Deal for Our Future—or face the possibility of massive protests and strikes on the opening day of the 2028 Olympics.
A NEW DEAL FOR OUR FUTURE
Over the next three years, Los Angeles will become the first city to host the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic & Paralympic Games back-to-back, making it the mega-events capital of the world. We are demanding that these mega-events serve our communities and leave a positive legacy. We are calling on LA28 and corporations to negotiate a New Deal for Our Future—or face the possibility of massive protests and strikes on the opening day of the 2028 Olympics.
LAist: Powerful union demands ‘New Deal’ for the 2028 LA Olympic Games, threatens to strike
“A powerful hotel workers union and its allies are escalating their demands ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. They’re asking the International Olympic Committee and private Olympics organizer LA28 to give $5 billion to build housing in Los Angeles.”
LA TIMES: L.A. unions push for ‘New Deal’ ahead of 2028 Olympics
“With the city of Los Angeles set to become a mega sporting events capital of the world — scheduled to host the FIFA World Cup, the Super Bowl, the Olympic and Paralympic Games all in the next few years — labor groups pushed for what they are calling a “New Deal” to get the city and the LA28 Olympics organizing committee to make commitments to improve the lot of working people.”
TORCHED: The coalition that’s threatening to tank the games is growing
“Ever since Los Angeles was awarded the Olympics, the Coliseum has served as the backdrop for city leaders to share their 2028 plans. (Or, as I like to call them, what plans?) This morning, it was time to hear from the people. Squinting in the sun, a crowd of about 200 stood below the rings, waving posters with full-color photos of workers sharing what 2028 looked like to them — union jobs, more housing, an Airbnb ban, a guarantee of safety for immigrant communities as the federal government continued its reign of terror.”
KCAL NEWS: Los Angeles activists demand higher wages as the 2028 Summer Olympics approach
Members of various unions and advocacy groups rallied in support of a $30 per hour Olympic Wage on Thursday ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, calling their campaign a “New Deal for our Future.”
BREAKING NEWS: Fair Games Coalition Threatens Protests and Strikes During 2028 Olympic Games, Launches Campaign for New Deal for Our Future Outside LA Coliseum Olympic Torch
Over the next three years, Los Angeles will become the first city to host the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic & Paralympic Games back-to-back, making it the mega-events capital of the world. Pasadena, Inglewood, Long Beach and other cities will also host matches and events. Advocates of the New Deal will demand that these mega-events serve our communities and leave a positive legacy. Five of the last six Olympics ran over budget by 100%, leaving governments indebted and residents displaced.
The Fair Games coalition decried how the City of Los Angeles has decided to subcontract the Games to billionaires. LA28’s chairman, billionaire Casey Wasserman, recently met with Donald Trump who on August 5 signed an executive order declaring himself the chair of L.A. Olympics task force, raising concerns about continued federal interference and militarization in the region.
“The Olympics will create a massive surge in demand for the goods and services we, the workers, provide. While that means heavier workloads for us and greater profits for billionaires, we must ensure everyone wins,” said United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 770 rank-and-file Executive Board member and CVS employee. “We’re fighting to make every job a union job—from grocery clerks to merchandise vendors—jobs that are fair-paying, safe, and can sustain a family in this increasingly expensive city.”
Pastor Bridie Roberts, Director of Community Organizing for UNITE HERE Local 11 said, “We call on the International Olympic Committee and LA 28 to build at least 50,000 homes, invest $5 Billion dollars to build housing for city employees, teachers, cooks, room attendants who will still be here long after the games are gone. Corporations profiting from these mega-events to pay their fair share. If Delta and Marriott can pay their CEOs tens of millions of dollars a year — hundreds of times what an airport worker or room attendant earns — then they can help fund housing. A simple tax on companies that pay CEOs obscene sums while underpaying their workers could raise over $500 million a year for affordable housing. San Francisco proved it can be done. Now it is our turn.”
Reverend Gary Williams Senior Pastor of St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, located in District 8 in the City of Los Angeles and on the Board of Directors at CLUE., “The Olympics is an incredible global event that promotes the beauty of diversity, international solidarity, and beautiful stories of humanity through sports. Our workers’ vision for a just and inclusive future of Los Angeles reflects what the Olympics is all about.
Since 2021, UNITE HERE Local 11 and coalition partners have raised alarms about LA28’s secretive planning process, calling for transparency through public record requests and community action.
BREAKING NEWS: ANTI WORKER CAMPAIGN TO OVERTURN THE OLYMPIC WAGE FAILS OUTRIGHT QUALIFICATION
Their failure to qualify outright is due in large part to the unprecedented efforts of workers and community to educate voters and collected signature withdrawals. Thank you to everybody who worked so hard to get us to this point!
A record of more than 120,000 Angelenos submitted forms to revoke their signatures on the referendum petition when they learned the petition would actually upend the Olympic Wage.
We’ll keep you updated when the full results are available in September!
PRESS-TELEGRAM: Long Beach Convention Center, airport, amphitheater workers to receive ‘Olympic wage’ increases
“This is something that we’ve been working on for a couple of years now, and it’s very significant,” said Ada Briceño, co-president of Unite Here Local 11, the labor union representing concession workers. “It’s going to change lives for hundreds of workers in the airport, in the Convention Center, and in the new amphitheater. We’re quite happy with what’s transpiring.”
IT’S OFFICIAL! LONG BEACH CITY COUNCIL PASSES THE OLYMPIC WAGE!
Thanks to this victory, concession workers are now brought up to the same wage standard that was won by hotel workers when Long Beach voters approved Measure RW, which went into effect just over a year ago.
This victory was only made possible through our broad coalition of 75 local community organizations, 206 small businesses, and thousands of voters who overwhelmingly passed higher wages for our Long Beach tourism workers through Measure RW.
DEFEND THE WAGE
BREAKING NEWS: Defend the Wage LA Coalition Demands City Clerk Invalidate Referendum Petition to Overturn the Olympic Wage
LOS ANGELES: The Defend the Wage LA Coalition, which includes UNITE HERE Local 11, SEIU-United Service Workers West (USWW), and LAANE, is calling on the City Clerk to throw out the referendum to overturn the Olympic Wage based on allegations of the campaign’s brazen deception of voters, violence, and other gross misconduct.
The referendum campaign, funded by Delta, United, and members of the American Hotel and Lodging Association including Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott, misled countless voters by claiming the petition would increase wages, when it would actually overturn a recently-enacted minimum wage increase. Many volunteers have also accused signature gatherers of violence against canvassers seeking to keep the Olympic Wage intact. The referendum signature gatherers even set up shop in Skid Row, allegedly paying cash to unhoused people to register to vote and sign the referendum petition. Delta is an inaugural founding partner of the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics and official airline of Team USA.
A record of more than 115,000 Angelenos have submitted forms to revoke their signatures on the referendum petition when they learned the petition would actually upend the Olympic Wage. Given the evidence of gross misconduct and revocations, the coalition is calling upon the City Clerk to invalidate the petition altogether.
The Defend the Wage LA Coalition has mounted a major public campaign to educate the public about the referendum, report misconduct by its circulators, and assist voters who signed the petition based on false representations about its purpose to revoke their signatures. Hundreds of Angelenos have joined in the effort, calling a 24-hour hotline and responding to thousands of emails and text messages, with tens of thousands signing revocation forms.
“The greed of the airlines and hotels was only outdone by their deceit and desperation. The City Clerk should invalidate the petition,” said Kurt Petersen co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11 and David Huerta president of SEIU-USWW. “They would rather spend millions of dollars deceiving voters than pay workers a living wage and quality healthcare, but we are proving once again that working class solidarity is more powerful than money.”
“When we spoke to our community, they understood us and saw through what the industry was trying to do. Housing affordability is out of reach for so many working families across the region, and their support means the world,” said Maria Rubio, worker at Flying Food Group, an airline catering company that prepares and packages meals for international flights out of LAX.
“Corporations’ attempts to deceive Angelenos into signing the CEOs petition didn’t work because we mobilized, organized, and educated our communities on what was at stake: living wages and healthcare for essential workers. In the end, no matter how many underhanded tactics corporations try to use, we, the essential workers that make LAX and the region’s economy run, will win,” said Jovan Houston, LAX customer service agent and SEIU-USWW executive board member.
“Our coalition, which fought alongside tourism workers for over two years at City Hall, has only grown since we heard that corporations were trying to claw back workers’ hard-won wages and health care,” said Jessica Durrum, Policy Director at LAANE. “It’s been remarkable and inspiring to see so many Angelenos heed the call by volunteering, making calls, and helping to spread the word, all to defend their neighbors’ access to health care and decent wages. We’re hopeful that the City Clerk will do the right thing and invalidate the petition.”
The outrageous activity of signature gatherers has engendered a flurry of complaints. Most recently, this Thursday, UNITE HERE Local 11 submitted extensive evidence to the offices of the City Clerk and the City Attorney to support allegations that circulators for the referendum egregiously misrepresented the content and effect of the referendum petition to voters, committed violence or threats of violence against canvassers seeking to educate the public about its actual content, and committed other serious misconduct. This mountain of evidence demonstrates why the petition should be rejected.
Earlier this week, UNITE HERE Local 11 submitted a complaint to California Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower alleging that the companies collecting signatures for the referendum may have engaged in labor trafficking in violation of California law by inducing some signature gatherers to come to work in Los Angeles from other states by falsely claiming the petition was to increase the minimum wage.
Earlier in June, Local 11 filed a complaint with City Attorney Feldstein Soto and other agencies alleging that paid signature gatherers for the petition have obtained signatures by falsely claiming that the petition would increase workers’ wages. It also alleged that referendum signature-gatherers have repeatedly engaged in violent or threatening behavior. In one case, a witness alleges that he was violently assaulted and punched in the face by a referendum petition circulator.
As a result, Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto Martinez introduced a motion to call on the Los Angeles Police Department and the City Attorney to investigate the claims, which was subsequently passed by the Economic Development and Jobs Committee.
In addition, over thirty elected officials, including State Senate Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez, Senators Maria Elena Durazo and Lola Smallwood Cuevas, Assembly Majority Whip Mark Gonzalez, and Assemblymembers Isaac G. Bryan, Tina McKinnor, Mike Gipson and Avelino Valencia sent a letter and demanded that the companies “stop funding this distortion of the democratic process in Los Angeles.”
# # #
The Defend The Wage LA coalition is composed of UNITE HERE Local 11, SEIU-USWW, and Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE).
PRESS RELEASE: Pressure Mounts on California Attorney General Bonta and Los Angeles City Attorney Feldstein Soto as Over Thirty Elected Officials Sign Letter Demanding Hotels and Airlines Cease Deceitful Conduct in their Anti-Living Wage Referendum Campaign in LA
Los Angeles, CA: Over thirty elected officials, including State Senate Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez, Senators Maria Elena Durazo and Lola Smallwood Cuevas, Assembly Majority Whip Mark Gonzalez, and Assemblymembers Isaac G. Bryan, Tina McKinnor, Mike Gipson and Avelino Valencia sent a letter today demanding that airline and hotel CEOs stop funding the deceitful campaign to overturn the Olympic Wage passed in the City of Los Angeles for tourism workers.
In the letter addressed to the CEOs of Delta Airlines, United Airlines, the American Hotel and Lodging Association, and AHLA members Hilton and Marriott, elected leaders demanded that the companies “stop funding this distortion of the democratic process in Los Angeles.” Elected officials say they will hold CEOs “accountable for any potential liability for this alleged misconduct and other criminal acts.” The letter was also sent to Attorney General Rob Bonta and Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto.
Over the two years since the Olympic Wage ordinance was introduced, the combined compensation of Delta, United, Hilton, and Marriott’s CEOs reached over $330 million. In just 2024, each of these CEOs’ raises ranged from 155% to over 602% of what they made in 2022. Meanwhile, over the same two years, the minimum wage of tourism workers rose an average of $1.35 an hour.
California State Senator Maria Elena Durazo said, “This attempt to undermine the will of the people and deny hardworking hotel and airport employees a living wage is shameful. These corporations would rather spend millions fighting against fair pay than ensure their workers can afford to live in the city they serve. We will stand with our union brothers and sisters and fight tirelessly to ensure these vital wage increases are implemented, allowing Angelenos to earn enough to support their families and contribute to our local economy.”
The letter follows a complaint filed last week alleging that paid signature gatherers for the petition funded by these companies have falsely claimed that the petition would increase workers’ wages, when the referendum actually seeks to overturn a recently passed minimum wage law. The complaint was filed with the offices of the California Attorney General, Los Angeles District Attorney and Los Angeles City Attorney by the hotel workers’ union, UNITE HERE Local 11. Earlier this week, a motion introduced by Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto Martinez calling on the Los Angeles Police Department and the City Attorney to investigate the claims passed the Economic Development and Jobs Committee.
The complaint alleges that instead of honestly communicating with the public about the initiative’s purpose of eliminating the new minimum wage, signature gatherers have flagrantly deceived voters to sign the petition by claiming the initiative is to “increase the minimum wage,” turn a “temporary wage increase into a permanent one” and making other false or misleading claims. The complaint alleges that in some cases, signature gatherers were themselves deceived by the initiative organizers into believing the petition was to raise the minimum wage.
The complaint also alleges that some signature gatherers have failed to disclose the initiatives’ top funders in the materials they used to recruit voters to sign. The failure to carry such disclosures violates state and local election law. Lastly, the complaint alleges that referendum signature-gatherers have repeatedly engaged in violent or threatening behavior. In one case, a witness alleges that he was violently assaulted and punched in the face by a referendum petition circulator.