Starting August 3, Taylor Swift is set to play three concerts in the Los Angeles area. But hotel workers are hoping that she'll be Fearless and postpone those concerts, in support of their labor strike.
As fans make plans to descend on the area, hotel prices have gone through the roof and everything is booked, just like in every city where Taylor's performed. But as workers at 60 hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties point out, they won't be sharing that wealth.
In an open letter to Taylor published in the Los Angeles Times on Thursday, July 27, they wrote, "Your shows make our hotels a lot of money. In Los Angeles, hotels are doubling and tripling what they charge because you are coming. They also add junk fees on rooms, just like Ticketmaster does. But we see none of it."
"Our paychecks are so small that some of us are losing our homes," it continues. "Speak Now! Stand with us and postpone your concerts."
According to ABC7 Los Angeles, workers held a rally outside a hotel near the Los Angeles International Airport Thursday. They're asking for better working conditions and higher wages to keep up with the cost of living. A group representing the hotels said it has offered significant pay increases, but that the union won't lower its demands.
According to the Times, Alain Kemple, a personal concierge at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills, said at the rally, "I want to ask a very difficult but very important question to all the Swifties around the world and to Taylor herself. Please honor our struggle.”
Signs at the rally read "Taylor, make this your solidarity era," "Management has made this a CRUEL SUMMER” and “Union Power (Taylor’s Edition)."