By Daniel Rivera, Labor Reporter
On March 18, workers from the Long Beach Convention Center rallied at Long Beach City Hall in solidarity with workers from 1Fifty1 amidst an ongoing strike at the convention center, after a report by the Los Angeles Times alleging that the company stole wages and unjustly marked up its services.
“We are here today because of the city-owned convention center, after a report of wage theft from labor supplied by ASM Global,” Soledad Garcia, UNITE HERE Local 11 organizing director said during the rally in front of city hall.
Reportedly, 1Fifty1 paid its employees in envelopes, potentially skirting various income tax laws, and not providing pay stubs to its employees with a clear statement on what was withheld.
“We want them to ensure that ASM Global hires the affected agency workers, guarantee that all affected workers are made whole for any labor violations they have experienced,” Maria Hernandez, communications person for UNITE HERE Local 11, told Random Lengths News.
ASM moved to terminate the contract with 1Fifty1 immediately. Members of the union now call for ASM to hire those workers. Those workers are allegedly entitled to preferential hiring under a Long Beach law.
They reportedly charged ASM Global more than other contracts for its services, allegedly paying its workers $17 to $19 an hour while charging ASM Global about $26 to $30 an hour, a 60% markup paid by the city.
“For seven months, Local 11 members have been negotiating with ASM Global for a fair contract that ensures that all employees, including subcontracted workers, earn a living wage and are created firmly at the convention center,” Garcia said during the rally amidst the ongoing labor dispute between the union and ASM Global.
The union that represents these workers, UNITE HERE Local 11, has been in contract negotiations with ASM Global since September of last year amid tension on the inclusion of subcontracted workers who had been left out of the deal during a city council decision earlier that year.
“We oppose the city’s efforts to remove protection for subcontracted workers from the existing living wage ordinance. We know about the work they carry out … the allegations we’ve heard about 1Fifty1 reportedly paying their workers in cash envelopes without pay stubs is damning, we are calling on the city to investigate,” Andrea Romero, a cook for 11 years at the Long Beach convention center, said during the rally.
The living wage ordinance is called Measure RW, which was passed last year and was meant to raise the wages of various hospitality workers across Long Beach for hotels with over 100 rooms.
The measure was later proposed to expand to include airport and convention workers; however, the city council decided to exclude them from that expansion. Measure RW raised the wages to about $17 an hour, which was potentially violated by 1Fifty1, and the ordinance also mandated an escalator for wages to about $29 an hour by 2028, the year Los Angeles will host the Olympics.
The city council heard an impact report during that meeting that stated the potential loss of investment and booking that would lead to the center’s inability to meet those rising operating costs.
Subcontracted workers have hourly limits set at 960 annually, about 18 hours a week. ASM Global and the convention center have cited operating costs as the leading reason for these cuts.
The convention center reported income over pre-pandemic levels in December 2024, generating $2 billion in revenue and about $200 million more than in 2018 before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, workers have reported understaffing that has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels.
Long Beach Convention Center has not immediately responded to requests.