2023-08-03 09:40:00
August 3, 2023 | 5:40am
They want Taylor Swift to “Speak Now.”
California politicians pleaded with Swift to postpone the last leg of her sold-out Eras Tour in solidarity with striking hotel employees in Los Angeles — including the state’s lieutenant governor who recently attended the singer’s concert.
Unite Here Local 11, a union that represents over 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona, wrote a letter to Swift supporting hotel housekeepers in L.A.
“As a strong and fearless woman, you inspire us and so many of our constituents. We are writing in support of the hotel housekeepers across Los Angeles. They make beds, clean bathrooms, and take care of every guest need. But right now, workers say they are struggling to make ends meet,” said the Unite Here Local 11 letter.
Swift is scheduled to perform six nights at SoFi Stadium, which begins on Thursday.
Fifty-three officials signed the letter including California’s Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, state Senator Dave Min and Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors chair Janice Hahn.
Swift is being asked to postpone the final leg of the Eras Tour due to hotel strikes in Los Angeles. AP
Kounalakis, who took office alongside Governor Gavin Newsom in 2019, signed the petition just days after attending Swift’s show at Levis Stadium in San Francisco.
“Long story short I went to the Eras Tour,” Kounalakis said as she posted a photo and video in the post of her at the show.
Hotel workers in California began striking last month where they “participated in three-day work stoppages” where they asked for higher wages and increased benefits since their salaries “cannot sustain them in the Los Angeles area,” according to NBC News,
Kounalakis signed the Unite Here Local 11 petition after attending the Eras Tour in San Francisco. Twitter/@EleniForCA
The union is seeking a $5 per hour increase in wages immediately, an additional $3 per hour raise each year for the next two years, and additional health care benefits.
Your shows make our region’s hotels a lot of money,” the union said. “In Los Angeles, hotels are doubling and tripling what they charge because you are coming. The hotels are making more money than ever, but many workers cannot afford to live close to where they work. Some of them even sleep in their cars between shifts. Others are at risk of losing their homes.
The Eras Tour has had a significant impact on the economies of the cities performed in. Instagram/@taylorswift
“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.”
Forbes reported that the high demand for Eras Tour tickets “has had a significant impact on the local economies of the cities she visits.”
Swift’s Cincinnati shows brought more than $2.6 million to downtown hotels and $5.3 million to hotels in the surrounding area, as well as $39 million in hotel revenue in Chicago, according to Billboard.
Swift on Instagram Tuesday expressed her excitement for her last Eras Tours shows in the US saying, “loved every second of those shows and can’t wait for LA. Playing six shows at Sofi stadium lets goooooo.”
She begins the international leg in Mexico on Aug. 24.
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