Several California politicians have called on Taylor Swift to reschedule her Los Angeles concerts amid the ongoing hotel worker strike.
Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis and a dozen more elected officials across the Golden State signed an open letter on Tuesday, August 1, alongside the campaign Unite Here Local 11, which represents hotel workers. The message was sent to Swift, 33, ahead of her Eras concert stops at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. Swift is scheduled to perform at the venue starting Thursday, August 3, and will be there for six nights. The shows are all sold out.
“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,” the letter reads. “Speak now! Stand with hotel workers and postpone your concerts.”
Contracts for the hotel workers expired in July and have affected several big chains, including Marriott and Hilton. Before the contracts ended, workers set out to negotiate for better wages, improved health care benefits, higher pension contributions and less strenuous workloads. When the hotels did not agree to the terms, the workers elected to strike beginning the 4th of July weekend.
Kounalakis, 57, is one of the biggest names attached to the letter to Swift. Chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Janice Hahn, state senator Dave Min, State Assembly Majority Leader Issac Bryan, and mayors from several Southern California cities have also signed the letter. Meanwhile, James T. Butts Jr. — who is the mayor of Inglewood — is not involved.
“I stand with Unite HERE in their fight for a living wage,” Kounalakis told Politico via a statement on Wednesday, August 2. “And I hope we can use this moment to bring attention to the hardworking men and women who are the engine of our economy.”
Kounalakis is a Democrat who has announced her plans to run for governor in 2026. However, she also attended one of Swift’s concerts in Santa Clara, California last week.
“Long story short I went to the Eras Tour ✨,” Kounalakis wrote via Twitter on July 30 alongside footage from the show.
The Eras Tour — which kicked off in March — gathered the attention of major politicians across the United States due to the drama with Ticketmaster. The company appeared in front of Congress after reports of significant service failures and delays on the Ticketmaster website in November 2022 that left many fans of Swift unable to purchase tickets for her tour.
Swift made headlines earlier this week for reportedly gifting the truck drivers working on her tour $100,000 bonuses for their hard work. She reportedly dished out $5 million in monetary gifts, per TMZ. The outlet also reported Swift gave her tour band, dancers, caterers, lighting and sound technicians and other staff members bonuses as well.
Swift has not publicly commented on the open letter.
