Los Angeles activists demand higher wages as the 2028 Summer Olympics approach

Members of various unions and advocacy groups rallied in support of a $30 per hour Olympic Wage on Thursday ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, calling their campaign a "New Deal for our Future."

The Fair Games Coalition, which includes more than 60 organizations across Los Angeles, including unions, community and religious groups, demands that the Games benefit "not just wealthy sponsors, but our working families."

The Los Angeles City Council already approved a wage increase for airport and hotel workers, which would gradually reach $30 per hour by July 2028. But there is pushback for the wage increase, with a referendum petition submitted by business groups to challenge the ordinance. 

Gathered outside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the site for the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, the coalition continued its demand Thursday morning for a $30 per hour wage for all Los Angeles workers. 

"We believe the Games present a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform our city. A new deal that guarantees union jobs and $30 an hour minimum wage for all workers in Los Angeles," Kurt Petersen, with UNITE HERE Local 11, said. 

He called the accumulation of mega events, the World Cup, Super Bowl, the Olympics, and Paralympics, a "chance for Los Angeles to finally guarantee housing, union jobs, and a living wage."

The New Deal proposed by the group also calls for affordable housing, as it was hoped that a newly constructed Olympic Village would transition to affordable housing. But the LA28 organizing Olympic committee, in following its "no build" approach, plans to use mostly the UCLA campus to house athletes 

In response to Thursday's rally and demands by the Fair Games Coalition, an LA28 spokesperson said the Games will bring a positive economic impact to the region. 

"The Olympic and Paralympic Games will mean good-paying jobs and real opportunities for working people in Los Angeles, including benefits that reach the neighborhoods and families who keep this city running," LA28 said in a statement.