SoFi Stadium World Cup strike tensions expose deeper issues around labor rights, housing affordability, and immigration enforcement ahead of a global event expected to generate billions.
With just over 60 days before the World Cup begins, FIFA has a new crisis on its hands: strike threats from thousands of workers at SoFi Stadium, the tournament’s host venue in Los Angeles and the site of the opening USMNT game during the tournament.
SoFi Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers and Rams in the suburb of Inglewood, is scheduled to stage eight World Cup matches: five in the group stage, two round-of-32 games and a quarter-final.
Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT will play two of their three group games, against Paraguay and Turkey, at the 70,000-capacity, $5.5billion (£4.1bn at current rates) venue. Opened in 2020, it is owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which also owns Premier League leaders Arsenal among a string of other U.S. sports franchises.
The threat has come from UNITE HERE Local 11, a union that represents 2,000 SoFi Stadium workers, including cooks, servers and bartenders. The union says major concerns remain for its members about the potential presence of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) around World Cup cities and venues this June and July.
The union is also asking FIFA to use a portion of the profits from the World Cup to support affordable local housing, with FIFA president Gianni Infantino forecasting over $11billion in revenues from a spend of around $3.5bn on this tournament — at which 75 per cent of the 104 games will be played in the U.S. and the remaining 25 per cent will be shared between co-hosts Canada and Mexico.
The union is also requesting a regional moratorium on short-term rentals by Airbnb, now also a FIFA sponsor, which the union argues displaces local workers in an already thin Los Angeles housing market.
The previous bargaining agreement between the union and the stadium’s operator Legends Global has now expired. Two extensive bargaining sessions, held at the venue, have failed to reach agreements, leaving FIFA at risk of a strike, with the union’s co-president Kurt Petersen this week telling The Athletic that FIFA has not been receptive to his body’s concerns.
The union, in a series of demands made to FIFA and the Kroenkes this week, is also sounding the alarm about the use of subcontractors operating at SoFi Stadium, while also demanding that FIFA does not allow any artificial intelligence or automation at the arena, which may eliminate union jobs.
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