The Olympics and Exploitation of the Working Class

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Local politicians and labor officials sell the games as pro-union and pro-business, but it’s just another scam. We know who really wins. Here are the nine dirty tricks the Olympics use to sell out labor and working-class communities:

1. They pretend to be pro-Labor, but in reality the Olympics are hostile to organized labor (and organizing within their own ranks). Even though this is a “no build” Olympics, there will be construction around the Games. However, events like this create a demand for cheap labor, which leads to exploitation and hostility towards organized labor including unions.
2. They always exploit volunteer labor. All Olympic Games rely heavily on volunteer labor even though the IOC (International Olympics Committee) is worth billions of dollars. The 2018 Winter Games took advantage of free labor provided by more than 21,000 volunteers with thousands reporting poor working conditions.
3. They don’t add real jobs to the economy. History shows that any Olympic-driven employment is only boosted in the short term – bonds issues result in long term debt that depletes future public resources and stifles the local economy.
4. They exploit the athletes. Athletes are workers, and the Olympics routinely exploit the athletes participating in the Olympics, the Paralympics, and the Youth Feeder Federations. American athletes aren’t paid a living wage and are often subject to alarming rates of psychological, physical, and sexual abuse.
5. They make us pay for their mistakes. Every Olympic Games held since 1960 has resulted in cost overruns for the host city. In the likely event the 2028 Games go over budget, both LA and CA taxpayers will be on the hook, diverting funds away from higher priority resources. They’re not accountable. We are.
6. They make our communities unaffordable. There will be mass displacement and forced evictions in working class neighborhoods due to hyper-gentrification. The six Summer Olympics held between the 1988 Seoul Games and the 2008 Beijing Games forcibly displaced more than 2 million people! Homes will be converted into short-term vacation rentals for wealthy tourists, accelerating displacement of working class people from their own communities. This kind of displacement results in workers living farther from jobs and being disconnected from the core of their own city and its activities.
7. They increase surveillance, immigration enforcement, and police militarization, which disproportionately destroy working-class communities and communities of color. The 1984 Olympics gave Daryl Gates unchecked power to terrorize communities of color and led to an increased militarization of the police. African-American and Latinx youth in already vulnerable communities suffered the greatest negative impacts, and they’re at risk again as the Olympics grant the Department of Homeland Security broad permission to collaborate with local law enforcement.
8. They aren’t accessible for working-class people. The average ticket price for the Opening Ceremony will likely be $2,000 or more! Just another instance of workers being prevented from enjoying the fruits of their labor while the wealthy and propertied benefit.
9. They never asked us. It’s true. The working people of LA never got a say or a vote on whether we want the Olympics! The Games rely on an undemocratic process, led by a group of unaccountable and corrupt billionaires who will be unfazed as the Olympic human rights and economic disaster comes to town.

So when people claim, “the Olympics are gonna be good,” ask yourself, “good for who?”