World Cup Workers Demand Fair Wages and Protections Ahead of Tournament
As the World Cup countdown ticks toward 11 June, a different kind of tension is building in several US host cities – not on the pitch, but behind the bars, in the kitchens and along the hotel corridors that will keep the tournament running.
From Los Angeles to Seattle to Philadelphia, thousands of hospitality and food service workers are lining up for a confrontation over wages, staffing and immigration protections that could spill over into strike action right as the world’s biggest football event arrives.
Strike threat at SoFi on eve of US opener
In Los Angeles, the numbers are stark. Around 2,000 workers at SoFi Stadium – cashiers, dishwashers, cooks, bartenders, concessions staff and food attendants – have voted by 96% to authorize a strike. They are represented by Unite Here Local 11 and want a new union contract that delivers higher pay and protections from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
They can walk out at any time.
SoFi is due to stage the US’s opening match against Paraguay on 12 June. The venue will be a global showcase. The people who pour the drinks and serve the food are asking who will be looking after them.
“We’re just trying to make things fair,” said Eva Miles, a bartender at SoFi since it opened in 2021. “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?”
Miles earns so little she cannot afford to live anywhere near the stadium. She spends two hours commuting each way. Some of her colleagues travel even further. The union is pushing for pay above $30 an hour.
“Let’s see them live on our wage, let’s see them raise a family,” she said. She talks about loving the job, the buzz, the guests. She knows how much fans spend on a matchday, and how much is being poured into this Fifa World Cup. She cannot understand why the workers at the heart of that experience are still scraping by.
The dispute in Los Angeles is not only about wages. Unite Here, the ACLU of Southern California and LAANE have filed a formal complaint with the California Privacy Protection Agency and the state’s department of justice over Fifa’s accreditation policy. The policy requires workers to hand over immigration information in order to work at World Cup events this summer.
For a union whose members include immigrants from nearly 200 countries, that hits a nerve. Unite Here traces its roots back to the 1912 Bread and Roses strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, led by immigrant textile workers. More than a century later, immigration status is again at the center of the fight.
“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 struck a conciliatory tone.
“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. “We look forward to delivering an outstanding hospitality experience for fans at the Fifa World Cup matches at Los Angeles Stadium (SoFi Stadium).”
Outstanding hospitality, though, will depend on whether the people delivering it feel they can afford to keep showing up.
Seattle hotel staff push back
The unrest is not confined to Southern California.
In Seattle, just steps from Lumen Field – where six World Cup games will be played – hotel workers at the Embassy Suite Hilton have also voted to authorize a strike. Unite Here Local 8 represents about 100 workers there. Ninety-four percent backed the move.
They are seeking pay rises, year-round health insurance, ICE protections and stronger staffing commitments.
“We need the wages to improve,” said front desk worker Hayden Eyerly, who pointed out that the hotel has only offered raises of around $0.80 an hour per year over the life of the contract. With the cost of living and gas prices surging, he said, nobody in the unit sees that as reasonable.
The problems run deeper than pay. Eyerly said some workers regularly lose health insurance during the tourism offseason because their hours drop. Staffing levels, he added, have never returned to what they were before the pandemic, leaving “every department” operating on a skeleton crew.
Many of his colleagues are immigrants. Their immigration attorney has advised them not to speak publicly, out of fear that doing so might trigger retaliation affecting their status.
“Everyone is very tired,” Eyerly 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.”
Hilton insists it is prepared if a strike goes ahead.
A spokesperson said the hotel has contingency plans in place and 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 braces for a deadline
On the other side of the country, Philadelphia is staring at its own showdown.
Workers at six hotels in the city, represented by Unite Here Local 274, are threatening to strike during World Cup games if new contracts are not agreed. Their existing deals have expired. A deadline of 12 June has been set.
The demands echo those in Los Angeles and Seattle but with a local edge. Staff want substantial wage increases, a cap of 15 rooms per day for housekeepers, ICE protections for immigrant workers and more affordable health coverage for dependents.
“The hotels have the money to give us what we deserve,” said Maciah Magloughlin, a server at the Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District. He pointed to the projected $770m economic impact of the World Cup for the Philadelphia area.
For him, the numbers do not add up. A tournament expected to pour hundreds of millions into the region, yet the workers who will welcome, clean for and serve those visitors are struggling to send their children to school, buy groceries or take time off.
“What we’re fighting for is that the people who hold this industry up on their back also get a piece of that,” he said. “People are fighting to send their kids to school or take time off or buy groceries, and that’s not fair, especially when we’ve got such a big summer coming.”
The Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District, where Magloughlin works, struck a diplomatic note as negotiations continue.
“We respect our team members’ rights to engage in legally protected activities and look forward to reaching a fair contract,” the hotel said in a statement. “While discussions are ongoing, we remain committed to ensuring our guests enjoy their stay.”
A World Cup built on fragile foundations
The World Cup arrives with grand promises: record crowds, economic booms, gleaming stadiums and global attention. In the US, those promises now collide with a workforce that has heard them before and is demanding something more concrete than projections and press releases.
The tournament can proceed only if the people pouring the beers, cleaning the rooms and checking in the guests are in place and willing. With strike votes passed in Los Angeles and Seattle, and a deadline looming in Philadelphia, that is no longer guaranteed.
The spectacle on the field will be measured in goals and points. The story off it may be decided in picket lines, bargaining rooms and the daily reality of whether a World Cup worker can pay the rent.
