THE 2023-2024 CONTRACT FIGHT

Since the pandemic, the region’s largest economic engine, the tourism industry, is celebrating record profits while hospitality workers are overworked, fighting to stay housed and alive. In 2023 workers had the opportunity to reclaim the right to live and work in their community. 

UNITE HERE Local 11 lined up over 60 contracts to expire this year, with the goal to lift the low standards of service workers, as the city of Los Angeles prepares for the World Cup (2026) and the Olympics (2028). We are ready to welcome millions to the region, and we intend to seize the moment to ensure our place in the economic boom headed our way.

It was nearly a year-long fight, but through the strike we won unprecedented contracts that have changed the lives of thousands of hotel workers.

12NEWS: ‘Suffocating’: Workers at ASU Panda Express strike, citing unsafe heat conditions after worker hospitalized, union says

Workers at a Downtown Phoenix ASU Panda Express have walked off, citing unsafe heat conditions and urging a state investigation, according to a union complaint.

“It is suffocating”, said Vanessa Martinez, one of the Aramark workers at ASU the complaint was filed on behalf of. “I dread going into work most days. I have asthma flare-ups, and they get worse while I’m cooking. I’ve broken out in hives, and I was hospitalized for dehydration; the heat is just unbearable.”

Workers at the Universal Hilton Win their First Union Contract!

On March 19, at 4:38 AM the workers of the Universal Hilton settled their first union contract. Pending ratification, workers won—amongst many other benefits—substancial raises, healthcare, pension, and workload protection. Workers will get a $4 raise in the first year, and $10 over the 4-year contract. The contract will cover about 250 workers. Congratulations to all the workers whose life is about to get much better!

CONGRATULATIONS EMBASSY SUITES IRVINE WORKERS

ZÓCALO: How We Won a Historic Contract for Hotel Workers

WINNING THE 2023–2024 HOTEL STRIKE

Since July 1, 2023, workers in Los Angeles, Orange County, and Arizona have gone on strike more than 175 times, making this the nation’s largest hotel worker strike wave in modern history. Hotel-worker wages, like those for all Angelenos, have not kept up with soaring housing costs. The striking workers have demanded that the hotel industry, which is enjoying record post-pandemic profits, cough up major wage increases so that workers can live near where they work.

PRESS RELEASE: UNITE HERE Local 11 Files Cal/OSHA Complaint Alleging Rat, Cockroach and Maggot Sightings at The Westin Long Beach

Hotel workers protest The Westin Long Beach to demand a fair contract, safe working conditions

Long Beach–Hotel workers at the Westin Long Beach concerned for their health and safety have submitted a complaint to Cal/OSHA.

Workers plan to protest outside the Westin Long Beach on Saturday July 20, 2024 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Supporters will wear rat costumes and related props to draw attention to workers’ allegations that they have observed what appeared to be rats in the food storage room of the Hotel’s kitchen and roaches in the Hotel’s banquet kitchen. Workers documented alleged rodent sightings as recently as mid-June of 2024. In July 2023, a worker also documented an alleged sighting of what appeared to be maggots on unwashed dishes in the Hotel’s banquet kitchen.

The Westin Long Beach has been embroiled in a fierce labor dispute with its employees since the union contract expired on June 30, 2024. Westin employees join workers across the Los Angeles area who have fought for and won better wages and working conditions in what has become the largest hotel worker strike in modern history. The workers’ primary contract goals include wage increases to keep pace with the soaring cost of housing in Long Beach, quality and affordable health insurance, a pension to retire with dignity, and humane workloads.

“As hotel workers we strive to provide the best customer service to our guests, and we deserve a safe and healthy working environment. We urge the hotel to take immediate action to ensure that our workplace is safe. They need to listen to us as we fight for what we deserve,” said Wendy Bonilla, one of the complainants and a worker at the Westin Long Beach.

FOUR MORE WINS!

LOCAL 11 STRIKE WINS!

ON STRIKE: Westin Long Beach Hotel Workers On Strike As 4th of July Weekend Continues

One year after the nation’s largest hotel strike began, workers at Westin Long Beach walk out

Long Beach: Room attendants, cooks, dishwashers, front desk agents, servers, and other workers of the Westin Long Beach  walked out this morning. The strike at the hotel comes one year after the largest hotel strike wave in modern US history began.

The hotel have yet to sign on to a contract along the lines of those already inked by more than sixty hotels in the region, including the Hotel Maya and DoubleTree San Pedro, and Westin hotels in Los Angeles and Phoenix, Arizona. These contracts ensure that workers earn wages that keep pace with the soaring cost of housing, maintain affordable benefits, and receive reasonable workload assignments.

FIVE MORE WINS

FIVE WINS! AGAIN!

A collage of group photos showing hotel workers celebrating at the Le Meridien Delfina, the Viceroy, the Sheraton Four Points LAX, the Courtyard by Marriott Santa Monica and the Hampton Inn & Suites Santa Monica

PRESS RELEASE: FIVE MORE! Including Viceroy, Le Méridien Delfina, Hampton Inn, and Courtyard Santa Monica Sign with UNITE HERE Local 11, Raising the Total to 46 Agreements

Hotels operated by Aimbridge Hospitality and the Hotel Figueroa remain focal points of labor dispute

Santa Monica, Calif.: Today, workers at the Hampton Inn Santa Monica, Courtyard Santa Monica, Viceroy Santa Monica, Le Méridien Delfina, and the Sheraton Four Points LAX became the latest hotels to sign the historic accord agreeing to the life-changing wages, benefits and other historic protections.

A group of two dozen hotel housekeepers in blue uniforms smile and raise their arms in victory as they learn about their new union contracts

The five new agreements come on the heels of seven others reached earlier this week, for a total of 46 settled contracts. In the past week, the Proper Santa Monica, Hotel Maya in Long Beach, Hyatt Place Pasadena, Proper Downtown Los Angeles, Westdrift Manhattan Beach, Hotel June West LA, and Alsace Hotel also signed.

A group of a dozen hotel workers smile and raise their arms in victory in front of a wall that reads "Viceroy"

Patricia Ibañez, a UNITE HERE Local 11 leader and housekeeper of 17 years at Le Méridien Delfina in Santa Monica said, “I am so proud of my coworkers for sticking together through this fight. It took grit, blood, sweat and tears, but we did it! I am excited to go back to my job after being suspended. The immense support I received from my coworkers and other community members inspired me to never give up. This is going to change my life.”

Dozens of hotel workers gather in the lobby of the Sheraton Four Points to celebrate winning a new union contract

The new contract has the largest economic increases of any industry-wide contract in the last 30 years.

  • $5.00 an hour raise in the first year; workers will have $10,400 more to pay for rent, to feed their families
  • 40 to 50% wage increases for non tipped workers over the 4.5 year term of the agreement
  • Most room attendants will earn $35.00 an hour by July 1, 2027
  • Guaranteed pre-pandemic staffing levels and mandatory daily room cleaning
  • One of the highest paid pension plans for service workers in nation
  • 50 pages of improvements, including Juneteenth as a paid holiday, unprecedented language for the fair treatment of workers impacted by the criminal justice system and protections of immigrant rights.

The contract will expire January 15, 2028, just before the world turns its attention on Los Angeles for the XXXIV Olympiad.

Hotel workers gather with balloons at the Hampton Inn Santa Monica

More than 10,000 workers at 52 hotels have struck 170 times so far in the largest strike in the history of the nation’s hospitality industry.

A group of hotel smile and pose in front of the Courtyard by Marriott

The membership has resolved to continue striking and boycotting until all hotels, including the Hotel Figueroa, all of the boycotted Aimbridge properties like the Doubletree Downtown Los Angeles that have not yet signed, and the LA Grand, the site of the city-operated Inside Safe Program.

CONGRATULATIONS MAYA WORKERS!

BERNIE SANDERS AT HOTEL FIGUEROA

“All you are asking for is justice, you work hard and want fair compensation. I just want to tell you that you are part of a growing movement in this country. So the message of today is that we are sick and tired of the greed of corporate America, workers deserve a decent life, and this union deserves a decent contract.” Senator Bernie Sanders

TWO MORE WINS!