LOS ANGELES—Around 2,000 hospitality workers at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike, their union said Friday night.
The stoppage, authorized by 96% of voting members, could occur at any time, though union officials made it clear that the U.S. national team’s opening World Cup match against Paraguay on June 12 would be an opportune moment.
If workers walk off the job, soccer fans who paid thousands of dollars to attend the match might have a hard time getting refreshments. FIFA, soccer’s governing body, has recommended fans arrive three hours early for matches at the stadium, located just outside L.A., which suffers from difficult parking and chaotic road access.
A strike at SoFi Stadium would be an embarrassment for Los Angeles as it gears up to host eight World Cup matches, the 2027 Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympics. It would also be a black eye for FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, which has advertised high-end food and beverage service in the stadium’s suites while charging thousands of dollars for tickets.
“I guess soccer can be played” if workers go on strike, said Kurt Petersen, co-president of the local union, in an interview. “But someone paying $100,000 for a suite, and they’re ending up getting bottled water and Doritos, I’m not sure that’s what they’re expecting.”
Legends Global, the company that operates concessions at the stadium, said it has presented “progressive wage proposals” to Local 11 and is confident an agreement is within reach.
Negotiations are scheduled to resume on Monday.
“While we expect a contract will be finalized in time, a contingency staffing plan is in place to ensure seamless operations and no disruption to fans,” the company said.
The union, Unite Here Local 11, is one of the most powerful in the hospitality industry, and represents more than 32,000 workers in California and Arizona. Its membership at SoFi Stadium includes cashiers, dishwashers, cooks, bartenders and concessions workers.
Workers have a variety of demands. They want Legends Global to raise hourly wages for the lowest-paid employees to $40 from $28, and to increase the automatic gratuity added to tabs in the stadium’s suites.
In addition, the union wants members to be able to leave the venue if they feel threatened by the presence of federal immigration agents at SoFi Stadium during the World Cup. And it wants to prevent event organizers from demanding sensitive personal information, such as Social Security numbers and fingerprints, from workers ahead of future events, as FIFA did as part of background checks before the World Cup.
The union, which also represents workers at L.A.’s airport, hotels and other sports venues, is also aiming for the coming contract at SoFi Stadium to expire in the spring of 2028, right before the Olympics.
“It’s going to be an opportunity to demand a lot for tourism workers,” Petersen said. “We’re lining up our contracts in order to potentially strike the Olympics.”
Los Angeles’s local World Cup organizing committee didn’t respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for L.A. Mayor Karen Bass noted the stadium is located in Inglewood, Calif., a city of 100,000 that is nearly surrounded by Los Angeles, and didn’t immediately comment further.
Write to Paul Kiernan at paul.kiernan@wsj.com
