By: Kyle Xu

On Sunday, thousands of hotel workers in Los Angeles walked off the job demanding higher pay and better benefits, just as droves of tourists flew in on the region for the Fourth of July holiday. This strike is part of a larger labor movement — tons of workers and other people have walked right off the job all across Southern California. The fact that it’s July 4th doesn’t seem to help.

“Workers have been pent up and frustrated and angry about what’s happened during the pandemic combined with the inability to pay their rent and stay in Los Angeles,” said Kurt Petersen, co-president of Unite Here Local 11, the union representing the workers. “So people feel liberated, it’s Fourth of July, freedom is reigning in Los Angeles and hotel workers are leading that fight.”

Across Southern California in recent months, workers have threatened to walk off the job. They are demanding for higher pay and better working conditions.

Not just hotel workers, but also the dockworkers have disrupted operations until they reached a deal in June. Screenwriters have been protesting by the gates of Hollywood studios for two months.

“It’s homelessness, it’s the cost of housing,” said Hugo Soto-Martinez, a Los Angeles City Council member. “I think people are understanding those issues in a much more palpable way.”

It’s no coincidence of how their strike comes just as the tourism season elevates. The leaders say they are hoping to capitalize on that momentum.

According to the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board, roughly 46 million people visited Los Angeles last year, bringing $34.5 billion in total business sales in 2022. That was 91 percent of the record set in 2019.

But for the workers? Their pay has not helped to keep up with inflation.

“All we do in hotels is work and work and get by with very little,” said Ms. Rios-Sanchez. “We take care of the tourists, but no one takes care of us.” She often wonders how she and her children will ever keep afloat as they reside in a one-bedroom apartment in El Sereno.

The Unite Here union has been asking that the worker’s hourly wages, $20-25, immediately increase by $5, adding $3 per year.

Agreements made this year will set pay levels ahead of the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics, which are expected to be held in the region.