‘Hollywood to the Docks’

Hundreds of union workers gathered in the Los Angeles Miracle Mile area on April 15 to kick off the “Hollywood to the Docks” labor march.

Workers march better pay and benefits, Los Angeles, Calif. Photo: Corazon Esguerra.

The three-day, 28-mile march from the La Brea Tar Pits to the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, Calif., voiced the workers’ demands for better pay and benefits. This year, more than 350,000 workers belonging to 30 union locals will re-negotiate their contracts—the largest number in the history of the Los Angeles labor movement. The march’s closing rally drew about 5,000 union workers and supporters.

These workers include longshoremen, homecare workers, teachers, actors and janitors. At the same time, more than 30,000 port drivers, security officers, car wash workers, hotel workers, construction workers and passenger service workers at the Los Angeles international airport are fighting to win union recognition.

With inflation, home foreclosures and layoffs on the rise, it is becoming increasingly difficult for U.S. workers—union and non-union—to make ends meet.

The Party for Socialism and Liberation distributed literature for the campaign of Marylou Cabral, PSL local candidate for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, 4th District. Cabral’s statement talked about the need to defend union rights, demanded a $15 dollar minimum wage and labor contracts for all workers, documented and undocumented.

March participant and Screen Actors Guild member Al Farris stated: “This is an important action because it is a further unification of the workers in this county. It shows the solidarity and change that we are striving for.”