Thousands of union hotel workers in Los Angeles walked off the job on Sunday.
Members of hospitality union Unite Here Local 11 — including cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, servers, bellmen and front desk agents — walked out as part of the largest multihotel strike in the local’s history.
Affected hotels include L.A.’s second-largest hotel, InterContinental Los Angeles - Downtown, as well as JW Marriott LA Live, The Biltmore Los Angeles, Le Méridien Delfina Santa Monica, Sheraton Universal Hotel, Hotel Indigo Downtown Los Angeles and others, according to Unite Here. Workers could be seen picketing outside all of the above hotels.
L.A.’s largest hotel, The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, avoided a work stoppage at its property by making a deal with union workers shortly before employees planned to strike.
“For 14 years I saw how my mother worked as a housekeeper and fought hard to raise me,” said Jennifer Flores, a striking front desk supervisor at the InterContinental Los Angeles - Downtown, in Unite Here’s announcement. “I am striking because it is my turn to fight for a better future for me and my son.”
“Our members were devastated first by the pandemic, and now by the greed of their bosses,” said Kurt Petersen, Unite Here Local 11 co-president, in a statement. “The industry got bailouts while we got cuts. Now, the hotel negotiators decided to take a four-day holiday instead of negotiating. Shameful.”
In June, Unite Here Local 11 workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. The local, which represents 15,000 workers across Southern California and Arizona, is seeking increases to hourly wages across its workers’ hotels, affordable family healthcare, retirement pensions and safer workloads. Workers at The Westin Bonaventure were able to secure all of the above.
In a statement on behalf of the Coordinated Bargaining Group, which consists of 44 hotels in L.A. and Orange County, Lead Spokesperson Keith Grossman said that a strike would occur “because the Union is determined to have one.”
Grossman continued: “The Hotels want to continue to provide strong wages, affordable quality family healthcare and a pension. Instead of proposing new taxes on guests of union hotels and engaging in stunts like impeding access to LAX, the Union should accept our offer to return to the bargaining table immediately and work with us to reach agreement on a new contract that would benefit our employees and the City and County of Los Angeles and Orange County.”
The strike’s timing puts added pressure on L.A. hotels, which experts have advised to have contingency plans in place. AAA predicted this will be a record-breaking July Fourth travel weekend, and crowds are already in town for a major anime convention in downtown Los Angeles.
In a statement, the Hospitality Association of Los Angeles, which is not directly involved in negotiations, said: “Hotels have been actively engaged in good faith collective bargaining with Unite Here Local 11, ahead of contract expiration at the end of the month.
“The hotel community will continue to provide excellent service in welcoming guests to the Los Angeles area as we always do.
“The hotel community is proud to provide outstanding careers for more than 250,000 people, generating $12.5 billion in salaries each year. We offer excellent training for every segment of hospitality and lifelong career paths that support our colleagues and their families.”
A spokesperson for Marriott told Hotel Dive: “This activity was expected. We are fully prepared to continue to operate these hotels and to take care of our guests as long as this disruption lasts.”
Hilton, Hyatt and IHG — whose properties are all affected by the strike — did not respond to Hotel Dive’s requests for comment.
