SoFi Stadium workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 11 are set to vote next week on whether to strike, opening a new labor fight just weeks before the venue hosts Fifa World Cup matches. The union broke off negotiations with stadium operator Legends Global on Tuesday and said the vote will run over two days, Thursday and Friday.
The vote puts more than 2,000 workers in the middle of a dispute that now reaches far beyond the bargaining table. SoFi is slated to host eight World Cup matches, including the opening U.S. game on June 12, when the USMNT faces Paraguay. Kurt Petersen, who spoke for the union, said workers told the company at midday that they intended to proceed with the vote after talks stalled.
The timing matters because the stadium is about to become one of the most visible stages in the tournament. The union’s bargaining agreement with Legends Global has expired, and several rounds of talks have not produced a deal. Petersen said the union’s concerns include pay, the use of subcontractors and limits on AI or automation at the arena. He said Legends had not shown the union the contract between itself and Fifa’s hospitality provider, OnLocation, which has left workers unsure about how schedules, service charges and tips would be handled.
The fight is also shaped by immigration concerns that have shadowed the site for weeks. In April, the union pressed Fifa and Kroenke Sports & Entertainment for a public commitment that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would not be allowed at World Cup venues. Petersen said that request has not been met in any meaningful way, even as the tournament gets closer. SoFi workers protested against ICE last month, and the union says that anxiety has only deepened alongside the stalled talks.
Petersen said Legends has not addressed pay concerns in a way workers can accept. He said the company has suggested only small increases, describing the offer as 25 cents here or there rather than real movement. “Our members are clear,” he said. “They are angry about this.” He added that the issue is especially pointed at what the union calls the most profitable stadium in Los Angeles.
If the strike vote passes, it would not automatically shut down the stadium. Petersen said a union committee would decide when and where a strike would be called. That leaves a narrow but real window for a confrontation at a venue already under pressure from a crowded tournament calendar and a ticket market drawing scrutiny of its own, from unsold opener seats to steep final-match prices. For now, the next step is the vote itself, and the result could determine whether the World Cup begins at SoFi with soccer or with a labor stoppage hanging over it.
