BREAKING NEWS: Biltmore Los Angeles Reaches Historic Union Agreement; Strikes Continue at Beverly Hills and Other SoCal Hotels
Los Angeles, CA: After a historic summer of strikes, UNITE HERE Local 11 and the Biltmore Los Angeles have reached a tentative agreement. The historic Biltmore Los Angeles joins the Westin Bonaventure in achieving settlements with their workers.
“It is great to see our contribution recognized and our compensation increased. This agreement will allow us to go home and sleep a bit more securely,” said Lucy Mijangos, a housekeeper at the Biltmore Los Angeles. “I am so proud of my coworkers for sticking together and grateful for the hotel for doing the right thing. We are committed to making sure every hotel worker wins the same agreement.”
Once the contract is ratified, the 300 workers at the Biltmore Los Angeles will enjoy:
- Unprecedented wage increases that keep pace with the soaring cost of housing in Southern California
- Affordable, excellent family healthcare
- Humane workloads and safe staffing
- Improved pension increases so that workers can retire with dignity
- Numerous improvements, including historic Equal Justice language that, among other things, will provide access to union jobs for formerly incarcerated individuals and ban the use of E-Verify in hiring.
- The Biltmore Los Angeles and the Westin Bonaventure, two of the largest hotels in the city, have emerged as leaders in providing fair wages and benefits for its workers and superior service for guests.
At the same time, dozens of other hotels, including those with far higher room rates such as the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton LA Live, Beverly Hilton, Fairmont Miramar, and Anaheim Hilton, continue to refuse to provide a living wage.
“We are very pleased to have come to an agreement with UNITE HERE Local 11 on behalf of our loyal and dedicated employees. We can now focus together on looking after our guests and providing the level of service our guests have come to expect from the Biltmore Los Angeles,” said Jimmy Wu, General Manager of the Biltmore Los Angeles.
“We applaud the Biltmore Los Angeles for putting their workers and our city first,” said Kurt Petersen, Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11. “LA is the world’s most important tourist destination, with the World Cup and Olympics coming back to back in 2026 and 2028. This agreement takes steps to ensure that workers who work in LA will be able to live in LA.”
DAY 3: Chaos Continues During APSA, Thousands of Hotel Workers March in DTLA To Kick Off Labor Day Weekend
Los Angeles: On Friday, SoCal hotel strikers will march from the InterContinental Los Angeles to the JW Marriott LA Live. Hotel workers from over a dozen properties walked off the job Wednesday, marking the latest development in this massive citywide labor dispute..
The strike came as the American Political Science Association arrived in town. Last week, the workers’ call for conventions to boycott and stay away from Los Angeles marked a major escalation in the largest hotel worker strike in U.S. history. Joining the workers’ call were some APSA members, SEIU Local 99, AFSCME Local 3299, and others. Friday morning, thousands of striking workers plan to march in downtown Los Angeles beginning outside the JW Marriott L.A Live.
In addition, striking workers at the Fairmont Santa Monica learned that the Inter Miami CF and Lionel Messi are slated to stay at the hotel for a game this Sunday against LAFC. Striking workers are asking the team and Messi to honor the boycott and cancel their stay at the hotel, which has also been the center of violence against workers the last few weeks.
DTLA Hotel Workers Strike APSA Convention, Call For Boycott Until They Win Living Wage
Los Angeles: Today, thousands of UNITE HERE Local 11 hotel workers at multiple properties walked out on strike fighting for wages to keep up with the rising cost of housing and a new contract.
The strike comes as the citywide convention of the American Political Science Association (APSA) begins on Wednesday in Los Angeles. Hundreds of APSA members have canceled their plans to attend after APSA leadership defied requests by hotel workers to cancel the event.
Last week, the workers’ call for conventions to boycott and stay away from Los Angeles marked a major escalation in the largest hotel worker strike in U.S. history. Joining the workers’ call were APSA members, SEIU Local 99, AFSCME Local 3299, and others.
“As a mother I often have to choose between paying for my rent and buying groceries. The solution is simple, hotels need to agree to the wages that we need to stay housed. Until then, we will continue to call on all groups and conventions coming to Los Angeles to boycott,” said Delmy Cabañas, Housekeeper at the JW Marriott L.A LIVE.
“Strikes and disruption will be the norm at LA hotels until the industry pays its workers a living wage. We are saddened that APSA leadership sided with greedy hotel corporations over the call of workers for a living wage. We applaud those political science professors who stayed away from LA. Those professors who came to LA will reside in, to borrow the hotel industry’s new slogan, ‘Hotel Hell.’ Dirty rooms and non stop noise will be the only amenities,” said Kurt Petersen, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11.