Tom Walsh

Thomas Walsh worked in the hotel and food service industry as a banquet server, bartender and front desk clerk.  He first became involved in the union movement and joined Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE) Local 25 in Washington, DC.

After graduating from college, Walsh worked as an organizer in various parts of the country until settling in Los Angeles in 1988.  In 1996, he was elected as the President of HERE Local 814 based in Santa Monica.  Following the example of the larger Local 11, he led a team of organizers and rank and file members in transforming what was then a weak union in rapid decline into an active, growing union with significant organizing victories.  In 2002, locals 11 and 814 voted to merge, and members elected Walsh Secretary-Treasurer of the newly merged local under then-President Maria Elena Durazo.  He was later elected President of Local 11 when the members of Local 11 and Local 681 in Orange County voted to merge into one union.  UNITE HERE Local 11 now represents 20,000 members in the hotel and food service industries.

Secretary-Treasurer Ada Briceño got her start in the hospitality industry more than 20 years ago, working as a hotel front desk agent, hostess and busser at various Orange County establishments. Early on she took interest in her union and in 2001 was elected the first Latina president of the former UNITE HERE Local 681.

One of her proudest accomplishments is the 2004 contract victory at three Disneyland Resort Hotels, where Local 681 negotiated no-cost family health benefits for about 1,000 workers who previously paid out of pocket. Additionally she negotiated an excellent contract in 2006 at the Sheraton Park Hotel, which included room reductions and wage increases.

After the 2008 merger of locals 681 and 11, Briceño was elected to serve as Secretary-Treasurer. Briceño emigrated from Nicaragua with her family when she was a child, and is the proud mother of one son.