Union strike looms amid contract negotiations over ICE participation in the 2026 FIFA World Cup

As the 2026 FIFA World Cup nears, a union representing nearly 2,000 food service workers is proposing a strike as they raise concerns amid ongoing contract negotiations over the potential involvement of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during games in Los Angeles.

UNITE HERE Local 11 represents cooks, servers and bartenders at SoFi Stadium and is raising concerns about the safety and working conditions for workers regarding the potential presence of ICE at games or near events. 

The concerns come from the rise in federal immigration enforcement across the nation and locally. 

The FIFA World Cup 2026, set to begin in June, is scheduled to have a total of eight matches in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. 

In a letter to FIFA, the union wrote that "Under our contract language, workers have a right to refuse to work under conditions that would subject them to unusually dangerous conditions. When hotels are used to house ICE or Border Patrol personnel, workers may be exposed to situations involving heavy armed federal presence, protests and law-enforcement responses that can escalate rapidly. These conditions create safety risks that are beyond the reasonable control of hotel staff or management and should not be imposed on hospitality workers as part of their regular duties."

The union has laid out ​three main demands to FIFA, the global governing body for soccer, and SoFi stadium owner Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. 

Those demands include ⁠a public commitment that ICE and Border Patrol will play no role in ​the tournament, protections for union jobs and working conditions and support for affordable ​housing for hospitality workers.

According to sources, acting Department of Homeland Security Director Todd Lyons has said that ICE would play a "key part" in the World Cup, a prospect the union said threatened worker and guest safety in Los Angeles. 

In the letter, the Union cited heavily armed federal presence, protests and a pattern of rapidly escalating violence connected to recent immigration enforcement actions. The Union emphasized that workers must not be placed in volatile situations beyond the scope of their normal duties.