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Dear John,
Over the next three years, Los Angeles will become the first city to host the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic and Paralympic Games back-to-back, making it the mega-events capital of the world.
Angelenos have been fighting and organizing to ensure these massive events benefit our entire city, not just the billionaire sponsors. And for over two and a half years, we’ve fought alongside the people who keep our tourism industry running – the airport workers, hotel room attendants, cooks, dishwashers, and airline catering personnel – to win an “Olympic Wage” that would raise their wages to $30 by the 2028 Olympics and provide access to family health insurance.
But immediately after the Los Angeles City Council passed the ordinance, a group of corporations and industry lobby groups, including United Airlines, Delta, and the American Hotel & Lodging Association, filed a petition to overturn it – requiring the signatures of 93,000 Angelenos to move the ordinance to a referendum in 2026.
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Just days ago we learned that – despite millions spent by these companies – the full signature count by the Los Angeles County Registrar found that the referendum campaign did not meet the qualifications to be placed on the ballot [[link removed]] . The Olympic Wage ordinance will now raise the wage of airport and hotel workers in the city of Los Angeles to $30 by 2028 – the highest minimum wage in the entire country – and provide crucial healthcare protections.
The industry failed. Workers won.
This historic victory wouldn’t have been possible without the record number of more than 120,000 Angelenos who submitted forms to revoke their signatures on the industry’s misleading referendum petition when they learned the petition would actually upend the Olympic Wage. Thank you to everyone who volunteered and spread the word to defend the wage.
This is a huge step towards making sure that the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics work for all of us. But it was only the first step, and we already have our sights on more legacy improvements for Angelenos.
Past Olympic games have left local communities indebted for years – with five of the past six Olympics posting cost overruns of more than 100% – and have permanently displaced millions of working class, unhoused, and migrant residents. We can’t let that happen in Los Angeles.
That's why I was proud to join hundreds of Angelenos on August 21st to call for a New Deal for Our Future [[link removed]] outside of the Olympic Torch at the LA Memorial Coliseum – where the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games are set to kick off three years from now.
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More than 60 organizations, including unions, community organizations, and religious institutions have come together to endorse this Fair Games [[link removed]] campaign to demand that the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Games create lasting benefits and protections for the working families who will be here long after the events have left town.
What does the New Deal entail? It demands union and living wage jobs that support families and healthy communities, funding for 50,000 units of housing for working families, a moratorium on short term rentals (like Airbnb) to protect our homes, and safe and dignified treatment of immigrant communities. And if corporate CEOs, the IOC, LA28, and city leaders fail to meet Angelenos’ needs, workers and their allies will be prepared to take to the streets. This is a huge deal.
Winning these demands ensures that the upcoming mega-events benefit the communities that will host them and the workers that will make them possible. Will you join me in pledging to fight to make these demands a reality? [[link removed]] Let’s keep these games fair, together.
[[link removed]] Saludos y Adelante,
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Víctor Sánchez
Executive Director, LAANE
LAANE is a leading advocacy organization dedicated to building a new economy for all. Combining dynamic research, innovative public policy and organizing of broad alliances, LAANE promotes a new economic approach based on good jobs, thriving communities, and a healthy environment.
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LAANE
464 Lucas Ave Suite 202
Los Angeles, CA 90017
United States
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