Some California hotels are accused of hiring Skid Row immigrants when unionized workers went on strike, according to the Los Angeles district attorney’s office, prompting an investigation by a Soros-backed district attorney.
Skid Row is a 54-block area in downtown Los Angeles and is one of the largest stable homeless populations in the United States and has been known for its condensed homeless population since at least the 1930s. .
On Monday, Soros-backed District Attorney George Gascón said he would investigate whether some unionized hotels in the Santa Monica and Westchester area engaged in possible exploitative practices, saying, “We’re going to make sure this is thoroughly investigated. “It will be a fair and impartial investigation.”
“If there are violations of the law, there will be serious consequences. We want to make sure our community understands that there will be no tolerance for the exploitation of refugees,” Gascón said.
Tents for homeless people are seen on a sidewalk on Skid Row in Los Angeles, California. AFP via Getty Images
Gascón is also “concerned about possible wage theft and child labor law violations,” the LA Times reported.
The announcement followed allegations raised by the Los Angeles Times that numerous hotels in the Los Angeles area were employing immigrants after 15,000 unionized employees began striking at 60 hotels.
He went on to accuse hotels of failing to provide breaks or properly document schedules.
George Gascón said he would be investigating whether some unionized hotels in the Santa Monica and Westchester area engaged in possible exploitative practices. AP
Employers have reportedly rushed to fill positions left vacant by striking employees, reportedly even going so far as to recruit immigrants from Skid Row, according to the LA Times.
A leader of the union organizing strikes, Unite Here Local 11, criticized the hotels for allegedly undermining their organized protests.
“I can’t believe they’re forcing these people, who are so desperate, to cross the picket line,” Kurt Petersen, co-president of Unite Here Local 11, told the LA Times.
More homeless people are seen in the Skid Row district of Los Angeles. Ringo Chiu
“Instead of addressing Los Angeles’ housing crisis, the hotel industry prefers to exploit the homeless as strikebreakers to avoid paying their own workers enough to afford housing themselves.”
Under part of the Immigration and Nationality Act, immigrants with refugee or asylum status can seek employment and employers cannot discriminate against those candidates.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn