Looks like Donald Trump is getting his wall after all.
In anticipation of Wednesday’s final presidential debate, the Culinary Workers Union is building a wall of taco trucks outside Trump International Hotel, miles away from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’s campus – the setting for the showdown between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
The rally aims to have at least five taco trucks as well as a giant banner designed as a wall where members, organizers and participants will be able to write messages and sign their names. While approximately 400 people are expected to rally in the morning on the Las Vegas strip, the trucks will be handing out free tacos in order to support the protest. The union has been using Twitter and other social media platforms as it promotes its #WallOfTacos and #TacosOnEveryCorner event, hoping to make some noise before the debate.
At Culinary Union meeting of former and current Trump workers: "bad bosses make bad presidents" pic.twitter.com/QMqVHm7Eft
— issie lapowsky (@issielapowsky) October 18, 2016
They will be joined by representatives from Plan Action, Latino Victory Project, iAmerica, Center for Community Change Action, For Our Future, and 50 immigrant advocacy activists from Los Angeles. The Democrat Ruben Kihuen – who is running to represent the fourth congressional district in the House – will also speak at the rally.
“We’re protesting Donald Trump’s hotel here in Vegas, where a majority of workers voted to unionize,” said Kihuen. “Trump has failed to sit down at the table with them.”
The relationship between labor unions and Trump has been tumultuous. Last December, the majority of workers in Las Vegas voted and officially agreed to unionize, but Trump hotel management has not recognized the vote and has refused to meet or discuss labour issues. Union groups across the country have lent their overwhelming support, including through a protest outside Trump International hotel in Washington DC on 13 October.
On Tuesday, the Culinary Workers Union – which has endorsed Hillary Clinton – held a press conference where many members who have worked at Trump hotels expressed their frustrations and described what it’s like to be an employee for Trump without the possibility of ever bargaining over their contracts. This is supported by a video published last month in which workers expressed their anger toward Trump hotel and casino establishments. “We get paid three dollars an hour less and bad benefits,” said Jeff Wise, a worker at Trump Hotel Las Vegas, “so the employees got together, voted democratically to have a union. Donald Trump ignores this vote.”
The union and its partners also wanted to ensure Latinos had an opportunity to vent their frustrations before tonight’s debate. “We want to make sure our voices are heard on election day,” says Pili Tobar, communications director for the Latino Victory Project, a nonpartisan organization co-founded by Eva Longoria and Henry R Muñoz III. “There’s no way that he will make it to the White House if we have anything to do with it, so we wanted to make sure we gave his campaign a proper welcome in Las Vegas.”
On Tuesday for example, Tobar’s organization – is one of the union’s main collaborators – arranged for taco trucks to act as voter registration booths throughout Las Vegas. The Culinary Union has spent the last year registering more than 8,000 people to vote and helped more than 2,200 of its members to become American citizens this year.
After the wall rally, hundreds of immigrants and volunteers will attend a debate viewing party at the Culinary Union and on Thursday they will host a forum with Trump hotel workers to elaborate what it’s like to work for the Republican nominee.
