Labor unions in Los Angeles are gearing up for the 2028 Summer Olympics by planning strategically timed strikes to win better wages and benefits. The unions are inspired by successful strikes during the Paris Games. Unions like Unite Here Local 11 are setting things in motion for over 100 contracts to expire just before the Olympics.
Denmark and Greenland say sovereignty is not negotiable after Trump's reversal on tariffsAnti-ICE protest at Minnesota church leads to arrests but no charges for journalist Don LemonThe AP NFL MVP finalists are Allen, Lawrence, Maye, McCaffrey and Stafford'Sinners' makes history, setting Oscars nomination recordTrump sues JPMorgan for $5 billion, alleges the bank closed his accounts for political reasonsNASA and families of fallen astronauts mark 40th anniversary of space shuttle Challenger accident California homeowner rolls out 'unwelcome' mat for black bear living under his houseChicken wings advertised as 'boneless' can have bones, Ohio Supreme Court decidesSome people tape their mouths shut at night.
Doctors wish they wouldn'tIs spending all day on your feet at work an occupational hazard?How this AP photographer captured Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's iconic kissInterpol-backed police make nearly 200 arrests in Amazon region gold mining sweepUS completes withdrawal from World Health OrganizationWhat to know about FDA's review of new Zyn advertising proposalThis just in from The New York Times: Its first 2-player game, and an evolving business modelChristian leaders urge protecting worshippers' rights after protesters interrupt serviceArgentina recibe el primer envío de autos eléctricos chinos en medio de la crisis económica Doctors wish they wouldn'tIs spending all day on your feet at work an occupational hazard?How this AP photographer captured Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's iconic kissInterpol-backed police make nearly 200 arrests in Amazon region gold mining sweepUS completes withdrawal from World Health OrganizationWhat to know about FDA's review of new Zyn advertising proposalThis just in from The New York Times: Its first 2-player game, and an evolving business modelChristian leaders urge protecting worshippers' rights after protesters interrupt serviceArgentina recibe el primer envío de autos eléctricos chinos en medio de la crisis económicaThe Olympic cauldron is lit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. Workers build the stands for the 2024 summer Olympic Games on the Champ-de-Mars, just beside the Eiffel Tower, March 22, 2024, in Paris. Striking workers stand in front the entrance of the Olympic Park, the main cluster of venues under construction for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 8, 2014. Workers prepare the red carpet before the heads of States’ arrivals ahead of an opening ceremony in which thousands of Olympic athletes are due to sail down the Seine past iconic Parisian monuments, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, July 26, 2024, at the Elysee Palace in Paris. The Olympic cauldron is lit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. The Olympic cauldron is lit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. Workers build the stands for the 2024 summer Olympic Games on the Champ-de-Mars, just beside the Eiffel Tower, March 22, 2024, in Paris. Workers build the stands for the 2024 summer Olympic Games on the Champ-de-Mars, just beside the Eiffel Tower, March 22, 2024, in Paris. Striking workers stand in front the entrance of the Olympic Park, the main cluster of venues under construction for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 8, 2014. Striking workers stand in front the entrance of the Olympic Park, the main cluster of venues under construction for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 8, 2014. Workers prepare the red carpet before the heads of States’ arrivals ahead of an opening ceremony in which thousands of Olympic athletes are due to sail down the Seine past iconic Parisian monuments, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, July 26, 2024, at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Workers prepare the red carpet before the heads of States’ arrivals ahead of an opening ceremony in which thousands of Olympic athletes are due to sail down the Seine past iconic Parisian monuments, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, July 26, 2024, at the Elysee Palace in Paris. LOS ANGELES — As Los Angeles ramps up for the 2028 Olympics, local unions are drawing inspiration from the Paris Games when hotel workers The French workers waved signs at the five-star hotel where members of the International Olympic Committee were staying, threatening “No Olympics!” if their demands were not met. A slew ofLos Angeles labor leaders representing tens of thousands of workers across Southern California hope to employ similar strategies as the city prepares to host the Summer Games in 2028. Unite Here Local 11 co-President Kurt Petersen said his union has aligned more than 100 contracts that cover roughly 25,000 workers at hotels, airports, sports arenas and convention centers to expire in January 2028, mere months before the opening ceremony. The idea is to maximize bargaining power. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770, which represents workers in the health care, grocery and packing industries; and Service Employees International Union Local 721, which represents more than 100,000 county employees, also plan to leverage contracts that expire in the first half of 2028. “We are going to have a force ... of working people to do whatever it takes, including striking if we have to during the Olympics in 2028,” Petersen said. “The Olympics can’t happen without the workers.”A coalition of labor groups, community organizations and religious institutions are pushing for the Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee — known as LA28 — and the city to pay for building 50,000 housing units, pass a moratorium on short-term rentals like Airbnb, and protect immigrant workers. Jules Boykoff, a professor at Pacific University who has studied worker gains from past Olympics, called the Games a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” for organized labor. “These sports mega events are yet another social moment that helps us see with greater clarity, people who’ve been there working all along, who actually are essential workers,” Boykoff said.Most of the economic benefits tied to the Olympics are short-lived, according to Robert Baumann, a professor at College of the Holy Cross who has examined data from several Games. Tourism and hospitality industries see a boost during the time period, while all other industries tend to suffer due to the general disruption to the host cities, Baumann said.that his organization won several concessions ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, such as an earlier retirement with full pension and doubled pay for transportation workers during the Games.at venue construction sites two years ahead of 2016 Summer Olympics over benefits and working conditions. They parlayed the walkout into higher pay and an increase in workers’ lunch vouchers.In Los Angeles, labor groups have been vocal about the Olympics benefitting workers critical to the Games’ success. The city recently approved a minimum wage of $30 per hour by July 2028 for workers at hotels with 60 or more rooms, an increase that’s set to be phased in over the next few years. The employees’ current minimum wage is $22.50. Business groups have said the increase will be a blow to the city’s tourism industry, which never quite recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. Opponents are still trying to delay the wage hike until after the Summer Games. On the other side, local unions are collecting signatures for several proposed ballot measures, including one that would penalize corporations with CEOs who earn more than 100 times the company’s median employee. Another proposal would require the public to vote on developing major event and hotel projects, and a third would expand the $30 minimum wage to all workers. “We need to make the Olympics and the CEOs who are gonna make money off the Olympics pay for things that our city and citizens need,” Petersen said.Los Angeles-area chambers of commerce are also using the fight over the Olympics to target a source of long-standing frustration in the business community — the gross receipts tax. Business leaders proposed a ballot measure to repeal the tax shortly after city council passed the hospitality worker minimum wage. The tax is levied on businesses’ total revenue before operating costs and accounts for more than $700 million in annual tax revenue, according to the city clerk’s office. The money makes up a key part of LA’s general fund, which pays for police, firefighters, homeless assistance and other core services. “Businesses continue to get hammered in this city,” said Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, one of the groups gathering signatures to repeal the tax. On the workers’ side of the ledger, employees like Thelma Cortez, a cook for the airline catering company Flying Food Group, say they are getting hammered by the cost of living. All of Cortez’s primary paycheck now goes toward rent for her and her three daughters. She works overtime or side jobs to make ends meet.“I thought that, ‘Well there will be more work, and maybe all airport and hotel workers can earn a little more,’” she said.Ding covers California breaking news for The Associated Press. She focuses on law enforcement and the courts, and is based in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Labor Unions Strikes Compensation And Benefits Send To Apple News California Minimum Wage Robert Baumann Stuart Waldman 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic Games U.S. News Kurt Petersen Taxes Business Sports Thelma Cortez Jobs And Careers Axel Persson Airbnb Inc. U.S. News
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
IOC president says no contact yet with Trump’s White House, will meet Vance at Winter OlympicsHer first meeting with Trump is much anticipated before the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games.
Read more »
Stephen Miller’s Wife Riles MAGA Up With Trump 2028 DeclarationKatie Miller knew she could work up the conservative base with a two-word post.
Read more »
2028 Volvo EX60 Cross Country Is a New EV SUV for Outdoorsy TypesVolvo's new electric SUV gets the rugged treatment that's not offered on the XC60, and the EX60 XC also offers up to 670 hp.
Read more »
View Photos of the 2028 Volvo EX60 Cross CountrySee the rugged Cross Country variant of the new Volvo EX60 from every angle.
Read more »
Deputies recover actor Jerry O'Connell's stolen 1979 Cadillac before he knew it was missingDennis Broad is a producer at NBC Los Angeles and Telemundo 52 Los Angeles.
Read more »
2028 Olympics could bring big wins for Los Angeles labor unionsLOS ANGELES (AP) — As Los Angeles ramps up for the 2028 Olympics, local unions are drawing inspiration from the Paris Games when hotel workers went on strike
Read more »