Last Friday, the day after International Women's Day, female street vendors gathered in downtown and urged city council members to remove a proposed business veto that they say would affect their livelihood. According to the dozens that showed up in support, this veto power would give established business owners the opportunity to harass street vendors.
Council members are considering implementing a business veto that, according to the L.A. Times, would allow traditional brick-and-mortar businesses authority to ban street vendors in front of their establishments.
Women street vendors from all around the city held a press conference Friday outside of City Hall to demand that politicians get rid of the proposed veto. The women are leaders of the LA Street Vendor Campaign (LASVC), a coalition of organizations advocating for the legalization of street vending.
“Council members have to mobilize,“ Merced Sanchez, one of the speakers at the press conference, told L.A. TACO, in Spanish. “They have to recognize our work that is as dignified as any other type of work.“