“Labor tensions are simmering across the Southland. In Hollywood, the Writers Guild of America has entered its second month of striking, and Screen Actors Guild workers are poised to join them on the picket lines if they don’t hammer out a deal soon. Meanwhile, workers in hotels, fast food restaurants, at the LA ports, Dodger Stadium, Medieval Times, UPS are all enmeshed in their own negotiations and strikes, and the list seems to grow longer every day.
That’s prompting some experts to predict that it’s going to be a “hot labor summer” in Los Angeles and beyond. “We have workers who are organizing, we have workers who are fighting for a better contract, we have workers who are fighting for a first contract,” says Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, executive officer of the California Labor Federation. “All of this means that they’re taking to the streets, that they’re getting out there. They’re ensuring that their bosses know that they’re gonna expect a little bit more and it’s about time.”