Advocates urge Los Angeles to publish FIFA human-rights plan and strengthen worker protections ahead of major events

During the public-comment portion of the Feb. 20 Los Angeles City Council meeting, multiple speakers urged the council to publish the city'9s draft FIFA human-rights plan and to ensure measures to protect workers and prevent trafficking during major events.

Fe1tima Murrieta, who identified herself as an organizer with Jobs of America, said city agencies must have "herramientas fuertes para promover transparencia y responsabilidad y derechos humanos" during the FIFA and Olympics build-out and asked the council to make the plan public. Other speakers echoed that request: Valerie Lize1rraga (vice director of policy at Jobs Move America) and Stephanie Richer (director of an anti-trafficking initiative) said community review is critical with less than six months until the 2026 World Cup and longer-term preparations for 2028 events.

Speakers cited documented concerns about labor exploitation and trafficking linked to large sporting events and asked the council to publish the plan the city had been expected to make public (a deadline of Dec. 21, 2025 was cited by public speakers). Advocates asked the council to require stronger transparency, worker protections, community input into procurement and vendor selection, and proactive anti-trafficking measures.

What the council did: The council received public comment on agenda items and general matters; there was no formal action during the meeting to publish the draft plan. Councilmembers acknowledged the comments and proceeded with agenda business.

Representative quotes:
"Es credtico que esas agencias tengan herramientas fuertes para promover transparencia y responsabilidad y derechos humanos durante esta construccif3n." (Fe1tima Murrieta)
"Estamos pidiendo la publicacif3n del plan de derechos humanos y que el consejo cumpla con lo que han comprometido a hacer en febrero." (Valerie Lize1rraga)

Next steps: Speakers requested that the council publish the draft plan for community review and to schedule time for council discussion. The council did not adopt any publication directive on Feb. 20; advocates may follow up through council offices and formal submissions.