A strike took place on Sunday as workers from numerous major Southland hotels formed picket lines, demanding higher pay, better health care, and improved retirement benefits.
“BREAKING: Southern California hotel workers are ON STRIKE! Thousands walked off the job at properties across DTLA & Santa Monica. Dozens more properties remain without a Union contract,” tweeted Unite Here Local 11 at 6:01 a.m. on Sunday.
This was followed by several tweets showing workers picketing at various locations on Sunday morning, including the InterContinental in downtown Los Angeles, JW Marriott LA Live, Millennium Biltmore Hotel, Hotel Figueroa, Le Meridien Delfina Santa Monica, Viceroy Santa Monica, Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica, Sheraton Universal Hotel, and DoubleTree Los Angeles.
The union, representing up to 15,000 workers at 65 major hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties, had warned on Friday through an Instagram post that their members “could strike at any moment” during the Fourth of July weekend.
The contract between the hotels and Unite Here Local 11 expired at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, although the union reached a deal with the largest employer, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in downtown L.A., on Wednesday night.
No contract agreements have been reached with the remaining hotels.
Hotel officials have confirmed that their facilities will remain open with management and nonunion staff filling in if a strike occurs.
On June 8, 96% of the union’s members approved a strike authorization, which could result in one of the largest hotel worker strikes in the nation.
According to union officials, a recent survey revealed that 53% of their members have either moved or plan to move in the near future due to the high housing costs in the Los Angeles area.
The workers consist of cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, servers, bellhops, and front desk agents.
The union reports that its members currently earn $20 to $25 per hour. During negotiations, they are requesting an immediate $5 per hour increase, an additional $3 per hour increase in subsequent years of the contract, and improvements in health care and retirement benefits.
The union is also advocating for the creation of a hospitality workforce housing fund. The survey revealed that 53% of workers have either moved or plan to move in the near future due to skyrocketing housing costs, with many commuting long distances from areas like Apple Valley, Palmdale, California City, and Victorville.
“Our members were devastated first by the pandemic, and now by the greed of their bosses,” said Unite Here Local 11 Co-President Kurt Petersen in a statement. “The industry received bailouts while we faced cuts. Now, instead of negotiating, the hotel negotiators decided to take a four-day holiday. Shameful.”
With the Westin contract settled, the Coordinated Bargaining Group is negotiating on behalf of 44 other unionized hotels. The remaining 21 hotels would follow the same agreement.
Representatives for the hotels accused the workers of being inflexible in their demands.
The union “has not budged from its opening demand two months ago of up to a 40% wage increase and an over 28% increase in benefit costs. From the outset, the union has shown no desire to engage in productive, good faith negotiations with this group,” stated the hotel representatives in a statement provided to the Los Angeles Times.
Attorney Keith Grossman of Hirschfeld Kraemer, one of the firms representing the hotel coalition, informed The Times that employers have offered raises of $2.50 per hour in the first 12 months and $6.25 over four years. He mentioned that housekeepers at unionized hotels in Beverly Hills and downtown Los Angeles, who currently earn $25 per hour, would receive a 10% wage increase in 2024 and earn over $31 per hour by January 2027.
“If there is a strike, it will occur because the union is determined to have one,” added Grossman.
Denial of responsibility! VigourTimes is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
