Dive Brief:
- One Hilton and nine Marriott hotels in Southern California reached tentative agreements over the weekend with their union workers to end strikes at their properties, hospitality union Unite Here Local 11 shared.
- The agreements cover more than 1,700 housekeepers, cooks, dishwashers, servers and front-desk workers at Irvine Marriott, W Los Angeles - West Beverly Hills, SLS Hotel Beverly Hills, The Westin Los Angeles Airport, Sheraton Grand Los Angeles, JW Marriott LA Live, Ritz-Carlton LA Live, Courtyard by Marriott LA Live, Residence Inn by Marriott LA Live and Hilton Irvine.
- Momentum for strike agreements appears to be building in Southern California, where union workers have held multihotel strikes since July. Agreements over the weekend follow similar ones at four Hilton hotels last week.
Dive Insight:
Though exact contract terms were not shared, Unite Here said the new agreements, when ratified, will provide workers with “unprecedented” wage increases, affordable healthcare, safer workloads and pension increases.
A total of 20 hotels in Southern California have now signed agreements with Unite Here Local 11. The agreements follow those at The Beverly Hilton, Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, Hilton Anaheim, Hilton Costa Mesa and the Beverly Wilshire last week; Biltmore Los Angeles, Loews Hollywood and Laguna Cliffs Marriott in October; Le Merigot Santa Monica last month; and the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in June.
Unite Here Local 11, however, remains in negotiations with hospitality management company Aimbridge Hospitality, where a strike deadline was set for this weekend. Workers at at least one Aimbridge-operated hotel, Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort, have walked off the job, according to the Los Angeles Times. Unite Here did not respond to a Hotel Dive inquiry about the state of negotiations at other Aimbridge hotels by press time.
“If the world’s largest hotel companies, Marriott and Hilton, agreed to raise the standard for hotel workers, what makes other hoteliers such as the Maya in Long Beach or Aimbridge Hospitality think their workers will accept anything less?” said Kurt Petersen, co-president of Unite Here Local 11, in a statement.
Hospitality unions have seen gains elsewhere in the country in recent months as well. The Unite Here-affiliated Culinary and Bartenders Unions struck deals with MGM Resorts International, Wynn Resorts and Caesars Entertainment to avoid strikes last month. And in Detroit, casino resort workers won pay increases after a monthlong strike.
