Here's why people are angry at the Dodgers for their World Series hotel choice
The Los Angeles Dodgers are the only thing sitting between the Boston Red Sox and a World Series championship, but some Boston residents have an extra reason to hold some animosity against the Dodgers.
That would be the city’s unionized hotel workers, many of whom are currently on strike against the Marriott family of hotels in Boston. Among the hotels with striking workers is the Ritz-Carlton Boston, where the Dodgers usually stay during road trips to Boston and will be staying again during the World Series despite the strike.
That choice to cross the picket line has UNITE HERE Local 26, the workers’ union, livid with the team, according to a report from Whitney McIntosh of SB Nation.
The workers have been striking since Oct. 3 and are seeking efforts to ensure stable hours, job stability, protections against the rise of automation, and updated sexual harassment protocols.
Per the report, the New York Yankees also crossed the picket line with the Ritz-Carlton during their ALDS trip to Boston, but that was understandable because the team would have booked the hotel during the nascent days of the strike, if not before it began. The Dodgers don’t have as much of an excuse.
The union reportedly tried to find lodging at a more socially responsible hotel in Boston, but the Dodgers balked when the selected hotel didn’t have enough suites available for the players, something that is stipulated in their contracts. That led the Dodgers to stick with the Ritz-Carlton, something the Houston Astros didn’t do during the ALCS.
UNITE HERE President Brian Lang provided SB Nation with some choice words for the Dodgers:
The bottom line is workers out there who are on their third week of striking, who live paycheck to paycheck, who are fighting for a livable income so one job would be enough. You’ve got millionaire ball players who would rather sleep in a hotel, even if it’s struck, because it has suites. I personally think that Jackie Robinson is rolling over in his grave right now. He’s an icon who that organization hails as a hero and they act completely differently than he would in this situation.
More from Yahoo Sports:
• Jeff Eisenberg: What now for Rae Carruth?
• ‘Decoy’ Flacco stands, watches rookie’s first NFL TD
• Terez Paylor: Jags can no longer hide their Bortles problem
• Charles Robinson: Why the NFL wins when players are divided
