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Striking hotel workers call on Taylor Swift to delay shows
The union representing thousands of Southland hospitality workers who are in the midst of a strike seeking higher wages and improved benefits called Thursday for pop superstar Taylor Swift to postpone her upcoming series of SoFi Stadium concerts.
LOS ANGELES - California’s lieutenant governor and other elected officials on Tuesday urged Taylor Swift to postpone her Los Angeles concerts as a way to stand in solidarity with striking hotel workers.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Striking hotel workers call on Taylor Swift to postpone LA concerts
Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and dozens of state and local politicians signed an open letter telling Swift that her tour makes the region’s hotels money, with some properties "doubling and tripling what they charge because you are coming."
Meanwhile, the letter said, many housekeepers and other hotel workers can’t afford to live close to their jobs and some sleep in their cars and risk losing their homes.
"Hotel workers are fighting for their lives. They are fighting for a living wage. They have gone on strike. Now, they are asking for your support," they wrote. "Stand with hotel workers and postpone your concerts."
Los Angeles County Supervisor among the cosigners on that letter. She issued a statement further clarifying her support for hotel workers, chock full of Swift references:
"Hotels are hoping to make huge profits off Taylor Swift’s tour and her success, but their workers know all too well they won’t see a share of those profits," Hahn wrote. "This has been a cruel summer for hotel workers who are making poverty wages. It would send a huge message to these hotel chains if Taylor Swift sided with them. Taylor said it best: 'I think it’s time to teach some lessons.'"
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Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour at Levi's Stadium on July 28, 2023 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management )
Starting Thursday, Swift is scheduled to perform six sold-out shows at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. Her representatives didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the letter.
Unite Here Local 11, which represents some 30,000 hotel workers, is negotiating for better wages, improved health care benefits, higher pension contributions and less strenuous workloads. Contracts expired last month at more than 60 hotels, including properties owned by major chains such as Marriott and Hilton.
Kounalakis, a Democrat who said she will run for governor in 2026, is the top official in the state to make the plea. She attended Swift’s Eras tour in Santa Clara, California, according to Politico.
Others who signed the letter include the mayors of several cities, Assembly Majority Leader Issac Bryan and state senators Dave Min and Maria Elena Durazo.