LA’s mariachis form group in bid to boost prices

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The musicians looking for work at the famed Mariachi Plaza in Los Angeles are singing a lot of ai-yai-yai’s these days.

With the number of gigs plummeting by more than half over the past two years, competition has gotten so cut-throat at the square that fistfights and shouting matches have erupted as musicians underbid each other to land scarce jobs.

Now a group of plaza veterans have banded together to form a type of mariachi labor union to stop what they call “mariachi pirates” from slashing prices to half the going rate.

Arturo Ramirez, president of the United Mariachi Organization of Los Angeles, calls it unfair competition, but others complain the new organization simply aims to muscle out competitors.