Every so often, labor unions in Los Angeles add a little pizzazz to their protests. A little creative expression. A little performance art.
Take March 28 for instance, when former cashiers, cooks, and servers of the Original Pantry Cafe swapped protest chants for cries of “free pancakes!” Downtown commuters walking past the shuttered South Figueroa Street diner swung their heads around, and some stopped to eat during the sidewalk breakfast.
Nearly one month after the business closed over a labor dispute, unemployed workers represented by Unite Here Local 11 wanted to protest the decision. They’d already taken the classic picket line approach, so a worker suggested they serve the public a menu favorite instead. In the process, they took donations for the hot cakes as a fundraiser to support the unemployed workers.
Workers throughout history have used the theater of protest to gain public support and tip the balance of power in their favor during negotiations or labor disputes with bosses. But this pancake protest got KCRW thinking about some of LA’s other creative campaigns in recent years.
Star Gardens strippers
Reagan (left) and other dancers protest their employers at Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in North Hollywood in March 2022. Photo by Robin Estrin/KCRW.
The dancers at Star Gardens in North Hollywood had the media in their grip during their campaign to become the only unionized topless bar in the U.S. In the spring of 2022, they delivered a list of demands to management, including protection from aggressive and violent customers.
KCRW’s Robin Estrin reported on the party-like atmosphere the dancers created on the sidewalk outside the dive bar. Over a 15-month strike, they held theme nights and put on costumed runway shows.
The strippers won union representation with the Actors' Equity Association in May 2023.
Medieval Times performers
Andrew Perez (left) takes the portrait of Jesus Lopez for the Medieval Times union fundraiser in October 2023. Lopez ditched the 11th-century costume he usually performs in at dinner theater for a cowboy-inspired look. Photo by Megan Jamerson/KCRW.
The performers playing knights, squires, and royalty at the Medieval Times dinner theater in Buena Park led a clever union campaign in 2022 that inspired non-stop medieval references to things like peasant wages and vassals taking power back from the lords.
One year into striking to win better pay and safer working conditions for their stunt actors, the union needed to fundraise. They leaned into the fantasy of their dashing knights, and in October 2023, they featured those actors in a flirty wall calendar. It created some buzz, but the union still didn’t have a collective bargaining agreement with Medieval Times, which led an aggressive counter-campaign.
In March 2024, the American Guild of Variety Artists declined to continue representing the performers.
Kyra Gardner stands with her Chucky-themed sign at the SAG-AFTRA WGA strike picket line at Netflix on August 13, 2023. Photo by Faye's Vision/Cover Images via Reuters Connect.
Hollywood writers and actors
The writers and actors who help keep America entertained led a picket sign-writing master class during the 2023 Hollywood strikes. Their DIYed signs showcased pithy puns (“The Penpire Strikes Back”) and movie quote references (“I’m just a girl standing in front of a studio asking them to pay her”) while calling on Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to improve pay in the streaming era and install protections against artificial intelligence.
The Writers’ Guild of America also organized reunion pickets for different TV shows like ER and The Simpsons. The events boosted morale, brought out die-hard fans, and highlighted the ways the industry has changed.
The Writers’ Guild of America won a new contract with the AMPTP in September 2023 and Screen Actors’ Guild in November 2023.
West Hollywood hotel workers
A union hotel worker makes a bed during a march through West Hollywood in July 2021. Photo courtesy of Unite Here Local 11.
Union hotel workers in WeHo marched the streets in July 2021 with plungers, brooms, and rollaway hotel beds. In the middle of the intersection, at Santa Monica Boulevard and Sweetzer Avenue, housekeepers pushed the beds to center stage and neatly arranged them with linens — a brief glimpse into their daily workload.
This demonstration organized by Unite Here Local 11 was planned ahead of a WeHo City Council vote on a measure that capped the daily square footage workers clean to 4,000 for hotels with 40 or more rooms; added protections against sexual harassment; and allowed workers who were laid off because of the pandemic to get their jobs back.
The measure passed 4-1.
K-12 LAUSD teachers
United Teachers Los Angeles created these parachute banners ahead of their 2019 strike. Photo courtesy of UTLA.
It’s common for a union to have a sign-building day before calling a strike. LAUSD K-12 public school teachers organized a massive art build before their May 2019 work stoppage.
Local artists created the designs, and then members and supporters of United Teachers Los Angeles got to work. They screensilked over 1,600 picket signs, and printed over 1,000 posters. They also made parachute banners inspired by the kind kids flap up and down during physical education class.
Their six-day strike resulted in a 6% pay raise, reduced class sizes, and an agreement that LAUSD would hire more nurses, librarians, and counselors.