These days, she spends more time searching for coupons and scrutinizing prices while grocery shopping for her husband and four children who live at home. She has stopped splurging on packs of Canelitas, their favorite type of Mexican cookie.
“We have to limit ourselves a lot right now,” she said.
At the Embassy Suites by Hilton Seattle Downtown Pioneer Square, which is steps from Lumen Field (rebranded Seattle Stadium for the games), where six World Cup matches were played, more than 100 hotel workers have been on strike since around the start of the tournament. The workers are calling for, among other things, higher wages and safeguards from federal immigration actions.
One of the striking workers, Dom Kaur, works at the hotel’s front desk. This tourist season has felt particularly slow, she said, noting that she had met fewer people taking cruises that leave from the port in Seattle to visit Alaska. Because her schedule at the hotel fluctuates from week to week, she said, it is challenging to find a second job.
“When people don’t travel, because of policies in place or because of high prices, it trickles down to us,” Ms. Kaur said.
In Los Angeles, Mr. González Lobos, 61, has searched for ways to cover rising costs.
For a time, he had a second job doing maintenance at a golf course, but juggling the long commutes and odd hours was taking a heavy toll on his body. He eventually quit driving to save money on gas, instead riding two buses to his hotel job. Even that, he said, costs about $6 a day.
