Labor disputes involving hotel, airport, and stadium workers could disrupt World Cup matches in several U.S. host cities, with unions warning of possible strikes during the tournament.
Travelers headed to World Cup soccer games in the United States could have more to contend with than high ticket prices this summer. The hospitality workers union Unite Here is warning that the events could also be disrupted by labor actions by their members at host stadiums, hotels, and airports.
In Los Angeles, Unite Here represents more than 2,000 cooks, bartenders, dishwashers, and servers at SoFi Stadium—many of whom gathered outside FIFA’s local offices last week to oppose policies that would require workers to provide Social Security numbers, home addresses, nationality, and country of birth to work World Cup events. The union alleges that FIFA could violate California’s privacy laws if this information is also shared with federal agencies. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has said it will participate in World Cup security.
Separately, the SoFi stadium workgroups have been working without a contract for a year, and the union says negotiations with the stadium’s food service operator have stalled. The union has said it will hold a strike vote in the coming days. The union says if the membership votes to authorize a strike, fans arriving for the USA v. Paraguay game on June 12 will be welcomed by picketing workers.
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Eight World Cup matches, including the July 10 Quarterfinal, will be held at SoFi Stadium.
In Miami, which is slated to host seven World Cup matches, workers at airport concession operator HMS Host are fighting for higher wages, pensions, and lower-cost healthcare. In Philadelphia, the union still has contract negotiations pending at several downtown hotels. The union has said workers are prepared to strike during the World Cup matches if they can’t reach settlements. The union has published a list of hotels in the city that are at risk of strikes. Philadelphia will host six World Cup matches.
Workers are also holding a strike vote at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Seattle Downtown Pioneer Square, adjacent to Lumen Field, where six matches will be played. The hotel’s workers will vote on whether to strike on Friday. If they do vote to authorize a strike, the union can call a strike at any time—including during World Cup matches.
In New York City, 27,000 hotel workers reached an agreement on a new eight-year contract, which provides wage increases, family health benefits, pension contributions, job protections, avoiding the possibility of hotel strikes by Unite Here members during the World Cup. Eight World Cup matches—including the World Cup 2026 Final—will be held at New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, a short distance from Manhattan.
“The World Cup should be a major economic opportunity for the hospitality industry, and a chance to recover some from decreased tourism numbers and lower-than-projected demand for hotel rooms, restaurant reservations, and the like that are caused by disastrous Trump immigration policies,” said Unite Here President Gwen Mills, “Unite Here members across the country are prepared to give a warm welcome to fans to their cities, but they may not be able to do so if they are still struggling for good union contracts that ensure good wages and benefits.”
Hotels had been expecting banner results from World Cup-related travel, but by early May, some 80% of them warned that bookings had not materialized in line with projections. FIFA, the organizer of the World Cup, has been under fire for inflated ticket prices, misleading descriptions, and creating artificial scarcity of ticket inventory to drive up prices. The organization is currently under investigation by regulators in New York and New Jersey. Tickets in the most premium category for the July 19 final in New Jersey were tripled in early May, to $32,970.
Unite Here represents some 300,000 workers in the hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, laundry, transportation, and airport industries in the United States and Canada.