FIFA World Cup: Hotel Worker Strike?
Hotel workers are threatening a strike just as the World Cup starts.
6/9/20262 min read
The FIFA World Cup is just days away and… hospitality and food service workers in some US cities hosting games are threatening to go on strike just as they begin. Apparently, unions believe a temporary, one-time event is cause for a permanent increase in wages and benefits. While I strongly support their right to strike, the logic behind the strike is faulty. Temporary revenue increases do not provide for an unending increase in wages. I know; I’m a former business owner.
About 2,000 workers at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles voted 96% in favor of a strike authorization as workers seek a new union contract. Cashiers, dishwashers, cooks, bartenders, concessions workers and food attendants at the stadium, could walk off the job at any time.
Eva, a bartender, stated, “We’re just trying to make things fair. 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 added, “… I know [fans are] 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.” What they want is $30+ per hour.
I would like to remind her of two facts. 1) If not for the investors who built the stadium, they wouldn’t have jobs at the stadium. Stadiums owners can hire new workers just as easily as present workers can find a new job if dissatisfied with the one they have. 2) It’s only a temporary boost in revenues, and you’re paid by the hour, not commissions. If you want commission pay, get a commission job. Oh, wait! That means working harder to earn more money.
In Seattle, workers at the Embassy Suite Hilton voted 94% in favor of strike authorization. Workers at the hotel are fighting for pay increases, year-round health insurance coverage, ICE protections and improved staffing. Workers don’t believe the present offer by the hotel is reasonable “because of the rising cost of everything, gas prices in particular.”
Let’s get one thing straight; the company one works for was under no obligation hire you, or increase your wages simply because the price of gas increased. You agreed to work for them based on what they were offering at the time. You’re free to leave at any time if dissatisfied.
In Philadelphia, workers at six hotels are threatening possible strikes during the World Cup games. Maciah, a server at the Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District, said workers are pushing for substantial wage increases, a workload cap of 15 rooms for housekeepers, and more affordable health coverage for dependents. She thinks hotels have the money to “give us what we deserve,” because of a projected $770m economic impact of the World Cup for the Philadelphia area.
That may sound like a lot of money, but it’s not. Expenditures go up as guest numbers go up, as do the tax dollars these hotels pay to their governments. Again, working for a company is a privilege, not a right. Don’t like it? Start your own company!
Source used: The Guardian
