PRESS RELEASE: LA’s Historic Original Pantry Café Will Open Again! UNITE HERE Local 11 and New Owner Leo Pustilnikov Ink Deal to Save Restaurant

WHO:  The Original Pantry workers, new owner and Real Estate Entrepreneur Leo Pustilnikov, UNITE HERE Local 11, Los Angeles Councilmembers Ysabel Jurado, and Curren Price, and Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice.

WHAT:  Press conference and celebration announcing the Original Pantry Café has new ownership and will reopen with its original staff

WHEN:  Thursday, September 11 from 9 am to 10 am.

WHERE:  The Original Pantry Café; 877 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90017

VISUALS:  Balloon arch, big ribbon cutting ceremony, red carpet, and cake saying “We Saved the Pantry!”

Los Angeles, CA:  The Original Pantry Café workers, some of whom have served Angelenos for more than 40 years, will return to their jobs after a landmark agreement between the new owner and Real Estate Entrepreneur Leo Pustilnikov and UNITE HERE Local 11.  Together, they will celebrate the forthcoming  reopening of the beloved 101-year old restaurant with city leaders, community allies and loyal patrons.

The deal comes six months after the Richard J. Riordan Trust, the restaurant’s former owner, abruptly shuttered the Pantry after workers insisted that any new ownership must protect their jobs and honor their union. Thanks to a community-led campaign—including protests, pancake fundraisers, and public pressure—workers and allies kept the fight alive.

Now, under new ownership, the Pantry will reopen with its remarkable workers, the union and a renewed commitment to remain a cornerstone of Los Angeles.

BREAKING NEWS: In Historic Triumph, Tourism Workers Defeat CEOs’ Multi-Million Dollar Campaign to Overturn Olympic Wage, Law to Go into Effect

Los Angeles, CA: On Tuesday, over a hundred hotel room attendants, cooks, dishwashers, server, airline catering workers and airport workers plan to rally outside Los Angeles City Hall and celebrate the Olympic wage going into effect after the Los Angeles City Clerk announced the deceitful multi-million dollar referendum campaign funded by Delta, United and American Hotel and Lodging Association failed to qualify. Delta is a founding sponsor of the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics.

The Defend The Wage LA Coalition, comprised of UNITE HERE Local 11, SEIU-United Service Workers West (USWW), and Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), released the following statement:

“Tourism workers demand airlines and hotels Pay Up Now! In a historic victory over some of the world’s largest corporations who spent over $3 million in a campaign that deceived Angelenos, workers mobilized and defeated the CEOs’ campaign to lower wages. The Olympic Wage must be implemented immediately. After years of speaking up at City Council meetings, protesting at City Hall and LAX, and even fasting for three days before a Council vote, workers have yet again triumphed over corporate interests. Elected officials must do right by the workers who will make mega-events like the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics happen and stand strong against corporations who seek to undermine workers and Angelenos who have again supported raising wages.”

The announcement comes after a full signature count by the Los Angeles County Registrar found that the referendum campaign did not meet the qualifications to be placed on the ballot.

During the signature-gathering process, the campaign funded by airlines and hotels were accused of misleading voters by claiming the referendum petition would increase wages, when it would actually overturn a recently-enacted minimum wage increase.  Authorities were presented with extensive documentation of these and other deceptive practices.  In some cases, signature gatherers were themselves deceived by the initiative organizers into believing the petition was to raise the minimum wage.

Additionally, volunteers accused signature gatherers of violence against canvassers seeking to educate the public about the actual impact of the referendum and to keep the Olympic Wage intact.  The referendum signature gatherers even set up shop in Skid Row, allegedly paying cash to unhoused people to register to vote and sign the referendum petition. A record of more than 120,000 Angelenos submitted forms to revoke their signatures on the referendum petition when they learned the petition would actually upend the Olympic Wage.

On Friday September 5th  in Long Beach the Olympic wage for convention and airport workers went into effect, bringing their wages up to $25 immediately and to $29.50 by the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2028.

Winning the Olympic wage was the first step towards building a more equitable Games that benefits working people. UNITE HERE Local 11, which leads the Fair Games coalition with LAANE and another 60 plus organizations, last month launched a vision calling on LA 28, IOC, corporate CEOs, and elected leaders for a New Deal for Our Future. The new deal would include union jobs and living wages, funding for 50,000 units of housing for working families, a ban on airbnb style short-term rentals to protect our homes, and safe and dignified treatment of immigrant communities.

BREAKING NEWS: Fair Games Coalition Threatens Protests and Strikes During 2028 Olympic Games, Launches Campaign for New Deal for Our Future Outside LA Coliseum Olympic Torch

Los Angeles, CA: Hundreds of hospitality workers, teachers, grocery store workers, housing groups and other allies gathered at the gates of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the site of the opening ceremonies of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Fair Games Coalition will launch a campaign for a New Deal for our Future to ensure the games benefit working families. The Fair Games Coalition of more than 60 organizations including unions such as UNITE HERE Local 11, UTLA, NUHW, UFCW Local 770, United Farm Workers, and community groups including LAANE, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, Immaculate Heart Community, KIWA, ACCE, and more demand that the New Deal for the Games include:

  • Union and living wage jobs to support families
  • Affordable housing, including funding for 50,000 new units of housing for working families and a moratorium on Airbnb-style tourist rentals that take housing off the market
  • Fair and dignified treatment of immigrant communities
  • Transparency and accountability

Today the coalition called on LA28 and corporations to invest in a New Deal for Our Future—or face the possibility of massive protests and strikes on the opening day of the 2028 Olympics.

Over the next three years, Los Angeles will become the first city to host the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic & Paralympic Games back-to-back, making it the mega-events capital of the world. Pasadena, Inglewood, Long Beach and other cities will also host matches and events. Advocates of the New Deal will demand that these mega-events serve our communities and leave a positive legacy.  Five of the last six Olympics ran over budget by 100%, leaving governments indebted  and residents displaced.

Kurt Petersen, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11 said, “The Games are not fleeting spectacles. They shape politics, the economy, and policing for decades. We believe the Games present a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform our city. Teachers. Grocery clerks. Room attendants. Athletes. Cooks. Servers.  Engineers. Farmworkers. Renters. Faith communities – we make this city run!  And we are standing as one. We know how to fight.  And we know how to win. So hear us now. If LA28 and the corporations that will profit from the Games refuse to change course, we will take this fight to the streets – and to the Games. Because these Games will either lift up our city — or we will shut them down!”

The Fair Games coalition decried how the City of Los Angeles has decided to subcontract the Games to billionaires. LA28’s chairman, billionaire Casey Wasserman, recently met with Donald Trump who on August 5 signed an executive order declaring himself the chair of L.A. Olympics task force, raising concerns about continued federal interference and militarization in the region.

The campaign launch came amid growing concerns over the Games. Over the last several months, Delta Airlines – a founding sponsor of LA28 – joined the American Hotel and Lodging Association in funding a misleading referendum campaign to try to overturn the recently enacted $30 an hour Olympic Wage for tourism workers. The Olympic Wage law–which, remarkably, has been attacked by the Olympics own leading sponsor–now stands as the only major legacy effort for the Games. Among other shortcomings in plans for the Games, Wasserman abandoned promises to build an Olympic Village that would transition to affordable housing, as was done in Paris. Airbnb, another Olympics corporate sponsor, was recently revealed as the backer for a misleading “Save our Services” campaign in its attempts to convert thousands more units of rental housing into hotel rooms for tourists, exacerbating the city’s housing affordability crisis.

“The Olympics will create a massive surge in demand for the goods and services we, the workers, provide. While that means heavier workloads for us and greater profits for billionaires, we must ensure everyone wins,” said United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 770 rank-and-file Executive Board member and CVS employee. “We’re fighting to make every job a union job—from grocery clerks to merchandise vendors—jobs that are fair-paying, safe, and can sustain a family in this increasingly expensive city.”

Graciela Gomez, a housekeeper at Hotel June and member of UNITE HERE Local 11 said, “As a mother to a 44 year old adult son with schizophrenia, it is increasingly difficult for me to make ends meet and stay housed in Inglewood. I have seen how companies like Airbnb have tried to take over our city. As part of the Fair Games we demand a ban on airbnb and other short term rentals. Inglewood is not for sale!”

Pastor Bridie Roberts, Director of Community Organizing for UNITE HERE Local 11 said, “We call on the  International Olympic Committee and LA 28 to build at least 50,000 homes, invest $5 Billion dollars to build housing for city employees, teachers, cooks, room attendants who will still be here long after the games are gone. Corporations profiting from these mega-events to pay their fair share. If Delta and Marriott can pay their CEOs tens of millions of dollars a year — hundreds of times what an airport worker or room attendant earns — then they can help fund housing. A simple tax on companies that pay CEOs obscene sums while underpaying their workers could raise over $500 million a year for affordable housing.  San Francisco proved it can be done.  Now it is our turn.”

 

Victor Sanchez, Executive Director of LAANE, “Today, we launched a bold vision for the 2028 Games: Join us. Let’s fight for our future. Let’s fight for our democracy. Together, we can hold LA28 and the IOC accountable. Let’s beat back the extractive cash grab for billionaires and let’s win material benefits and protections for working Angelenos.”

Reverend Gary Williams Senior Pastor of St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, located in District 8 in the City of Los Angeles and on the Board of Directors at CLUE., “The Olympics is an incredible global event that promotes the beauty of diversity, international solidarity, and beautiful stories of humanity through sports. Our workers’ vision for a just and inclusive future of Los Angeles reflects what the Olympics is all about.

Since 2021, UNITE HERE Local 11 and coalition partners have raised alarms about LA28’s secretive planning process, calling for transparency through public record requests and community action.

BREAKING NEWS: Defend the Wage LA Coalition Demands City Clerk Invalidate Referendum Petition to Overturn the Olympic Wage

LOS ANGELES: The Defend the Wage LA Coalition, which includes UNITE HERE Local 11, SEIU-United Service Workers West (USWW), and LAANE, is calling on the City Clerk to throw out the referendum to overturn the Olympic Wage based on allegations of the campaign’s brazen deception of voters, violence, and other gross misconduct.

The referendum campaign, funded by Delta, United, and members of the American Hotel and Lodging Association including Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott, misled countless voters by claiming the petition would increase wages, when it would actually overturn a recently-enacted minimum wage increase. Many volunteers have also accused signature gatherers of violence against canvassers seeking to keep the Olympic Wage intact. The referendum signature gatherers even set up shop in Skid Row, allegedly paying cash to unhoused people to register to vote and sign the referendum petition. Delta is an inaugural founding partner of the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics and official airline of Team USA.

A record of more than 115,000 Angelenos have submitted forms to revoke their signatures on the referendum petition when they learned the petition would actually upend the Olympic Wage. Given the evidence of gross misconduct and revocations, the coalition is calling upon the City Clerk to invalidate the petition altogether.

The Defend the Wage LA Coalition has mounted a major public campaign to educate the public about the referendum, report misconduct by its circulators, and assist voters who signed the petition based on false representations about its purpose to revoke their signatures. Hundreds of Angelenos have joined in the effort, calling a 24-hour hotline and responding to thousands of emails and text messages, with tens of thousands signing revocation forms.

“The greed of the airlines and hotels was only outdone by their deceit and desperation. The City Clerk should invalidate the petition,” said Kurt Petersen co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11 and David Huerta president of SEIU-USWW. “They would rather spend millions of dollars deceiving voters than pay workers a living wage and quality healthcare, but we are proving once again that working class solidarity is more powerful than money.”

“When we spoke to our community, they understood us and saw through what the industry was trying to do. Housing affordability is out of reach for so many working families across the region, and their support means the world,” said Maria Rubio, worker at Flying Food Group, an airline catering company that prepares and packages meals for international flights out of LAX.

“Corporations’ attempts to deceive Angelenos into signing the CEOs petition didn’t work because we mobilized, organized, and educated our communities on what was at stake: living wages and healthcare for essential workers. In the end, no matter how many underhanded tactics corporations try to use, we, the essential workers that make LAX and the region’s economy run, will win,” said Jovan Houston, LAX customer service agent and SEIU-USWW executive board member.

“Our coalition, which fought alongside tourism workers for over two years at City Hall, has only grown since we heard that corporations were trying to claw back workers’ hard-won wages and health care,” said Jessica Durrum, Policy Director at LAANE. “It’s been remarkable and inspiring to see so many Angelenos heed the call by volunteering, making calls, and helping to spread the word, all to defend their neighbors’ access to health care and decent wages. We’re hopeful that the City Clerk will do the right thing and invalidate the petition.”

The outrageous activity of signature gatherers has engendered a flurry of complaints. Most recently, this Thursday, UNITE HERE Local 11 submitted extensive evidence to the offices of the City Clerk and the City Attorney to support allegations that circulators for the referendum egregiously misrepresented the content and effect of the referendum petition to voters, committed violence or threats of violence against canvassers seeking to educate the public about its actual content, and committed other serious misconduct.  This mountain of evidence demonstrates why the petition should be rejected.

Earlier this week, UNITE HERE Local 11 submitted a complaint to California Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower alleging that the companies collecting signatures for the referendum may have engaged in labor trafficking in violation of  California law by inducing some signature gatherers to come to work in Los Angeles from other states by falsely claiming the petition was to increase the minimum wage.

Earlier in June, Local 11 filed a complaint with City Attorney Feldstein Soto and other agencies alleging that paid signature gatherers for the petition have obtained signatures by falsely claiming that the petition would increase workers’ wages. It also alleged that referendum signature-gatherers have repeatedly engaged in violent or threatening behavior. In one case, a witness alleges that he was violently assaulted and punched in the face by a referendum petition circulator.

As a result, Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto Martinez introduced a motion to call on the Los Angeles Police Department and the City Attorney to investigate the claims, which was subsequently passed by the Economic Development and Jobs Committee.

In addition, over thirty elected officials, including State Senate Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez, Senators Maria Elena Durazo and Lola Smallwood Cuevas, Assembly Majority Whip Mark Gonzalez, and Assemblymembers Isaac G. Bryan, Tina McKinnor, Mike Gipson and Avelino Valencia sent a letter and demanded that the companies “stop funding this distortion of the democratic process in Los Angeles.”

# # #

The Defend The Wage LA coalition is composed of  UNITE HERE Local 11, SEIU-USWW, and Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE).

PRESS RELEASE: Pressure Mounts on California Attorney General Bonta and Los Angeles City Attorney Feldstein Soto as Over Thirty Elected Officials Sign Letter Demanding Hotels and Airlines Cease Deceitful Conduct in their Anti-Living Wage Referendum Campaign in LA

Los Angeles, CA: Over thirty elected officials, including State Senate Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez, Senators Maria Elena Durazo and Lola Smallwood Cuevas, Assembly Majority Whip Mark Gonzalez, and Assemblymembers Isaac G. Bryan, Tina McKinnor, Mike Gipson and Avelino Valencia sent a letter today demanding that airline and hotel CEOs stop funding the deceitful campaign to overturn the Olympic Wage passed in the City of Los Angeles for tourism workers.

In the letter addressed to the CEOs of Delta Airlines, United Airlines, the American Hotel and Lodging Association, and AHLA members Hilton and Marriott, elected leaders demanded that the companies “stop funding this distortion of the democratic process in Los Angeles.” Elected officials say they will hold CEOs “accountable for any potential liability for this alleged misconduct and other criminal acts.” The letter was also sent to Attorney General Rob Bonta and Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto.

Over the two years since the Olympic Wage ordinance was introduced, the combined compensation of Delta, United, Hilton, and Marriott’s CEOs reached over $330 million. In just 2024, each of these CEOs’ raises ranged from 155% to over 602% of what they made in 2022. Meanwhile, over the same two years, the minimum wage of tourism workers rose an average of $1.35 an hour.

California State Senator Maria Elena Durazo said, “This attempt to undermine the will of the people and deny hardworking hotel and airport employees a living wage is shameful. These corporations would rather spend millions fighting against fair pay than ensure their workers can afford to live in the city they serve. We will stand with our union brothers and sisters and fight tirelessly to ensure these vital wage increases are implemented, allowing Angelenos to earn enough to support their families and contribute to our local economy.”

The letter follows a complaint filed last week alleging that paid signature gatherers for the petition funded by these companies have falsely claimed that the petition would increase workers’ wages, when the referendum actually seeks to overturn a recently passed minimum wage law. The complaint was filed with the offices of the California Attorney General, Los Angeles District Attorney and Los Angeles City Attorney by the hotel workers’ union, UNITE HERE Local 11. Earlier this week, a motion introduced by Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto Martinez calling on the Los Angeles Police Department and the City Attorney to investigate the claims passed the Economic Development and Jobs Committee.

The complaint alleges that instead of honestly communicating with the public about the initiative’s purpose of eliminating the new minimum wage, signature gatherers have flagrantly deceived voters to sign the petition by claiming the initiative is to “increase the minimum wage,” turn a “temporary wage increase into a permanent one” and making other false or misleading claims. The complaint alleges that in some cases, signature gatherers were themselves deceived by the initiative organizers into believing the petition was to raise the minimum wage.

The complaint also alleges that some signature gatherers have failed to disclose the initiatives’ top funders in the materials they used to recruit voters to sign. The failure to carry such disclosures violates state and local election law. Lastly, the complaint alleges that referendum signature-gatherers have repeatedly engaged in violent or threatening behavior. In one case, a witness alleges that he was violently assaulted and punched in the face by a referendum petition circulator.

On May 14, following more than two years of deliberations, the Los Angeles City Council enacted, by a 12-3 margin, an ordinance to increase the wages and health benefits provided to hotel and airport workers in the City of Los Angeles. The “L.A. Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress” launched an effort to overturn the minimum wage increase through a referendum. This Alliance has until June 30 to gather at least 92,998 valid signatures from registered voters in Los Angeles to qualify the measure for the June 2026 ballot.

PRESS RELEASE: Hospitality Union Files Initiative Petitions to Raise LA Minimum Wage to $30/hour for All Workers and Require Voter Approval of Hotel and Event Center Subsidies

Los Angeles, California. Representatives of the hotel workers’ union, UNITE HERE Local 11, submitted paperwork late Monday with the Los Angeles City Clerk to file two voter initiatives.

The first initiative would boost the citywide minimum wage to $25.00 an hour initially and raise the minimum wage to $30 an hour on July 1, 2028, when the Olympics and Paralympic Games are scheduled to start in Los Angeles.

Last month, the City Council passed an ordinance with similar minimum wage increases for tourism workers, dubbed the Olympic Wage.  Major corporations, including United Airlines, Delta Airlines, and hotel chains launched a costly campaign to overturn the law, arguing that all workers—not only tourism workers—should get wage increases. The new initiative proposes to extend the wage increases to workers in all industries across the city.

The second initiative would require voter approval for hotel and event center development projects in which the City grants subsidies, such as tax rebates or below-market prices for city-owned land, to developers.  It would also require voter approval for major hotel developments involving 80 or more guest rooms or event center developments adding more than 50,000 square feet or 1,000 seats and require that the City Council make findings that the developments are compatible with and beneficial to the local community.

In addition, the union and its allies have launched massive field efforts to “Defend The Wage LA” and inform the public of misleading signature-gathering efforts in the campaign led by the tourism industry to overturn the Olympic Wage. A complaint filed last week alleges that paid signature-gatherers for a petition funded by Delta Airlines, United Airlines, Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt have falsely claimed that the petition would increase workers’ wages when the referendum actually seeks to overturn the recently passed tourism minimum wage law. The complaint was filed with the offices of the California Attorney General, Los Angeles District Attorney and Los Angeles City Attorney by the hotel workers’ union, UNITE HERE Local 11.

“Tourism corporations often get massive subsidies from taxpayers.  But we question whether big companies that find tens of millions to pay their CEOs each year and are now spending millions more to overturn a minimum wage hike for their lowest-paid workers really need these subsidies.  At the very least, voters should get a say on whether their tax dollars should be handed over to these corporations,” said Kurt Petersen, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11.

Petersen added: “Since the initiative advances the position proclaimed by these big tourism companies like United, Delta, and hotel owners that all workers need an increase, we expect them to promptly get on board and endorse the new minimum wage initiative.”

PRESS RELEASE: Tourism Workers Launch “Defend The Wage LA” Campaign for $30 Olympic Wage and Other Protections Against Billionaire Bosses’ Misleading Petition

Los Angeles: Over a hundred room attendants, cooks, dishwashers, airline catering and airport workers, volunteers and allies announced massive field efforts “Defend The Wage LA” to inform the public of the misleading petition led by the tourism industry to overturn the Olympic Wage.

Workers are urging voters not to sign the misleading petition and encouraging the public to report any petition gatherers online or by calling the Defend The Wage hotline at 909-326-0042. 

“I didn’t fight for over two years for this wage because I want to buy another yacht like the CEO’s backing the phony petition. I fought for the Olympic wage so that I could keep a roof over my head and provide for  my family back in Honduras. I am planning to move to Louisiana with my husband because the $20.63 is not enough, living in Los Angeles is becoming more impossible every day.” said Maria Torres, dishwasher at Flying Food Group, an airline catering company that prepares meals for international flights out of LAX and member of UNITE HERE Local 11. “I will be out there every day educating voters about the bosses’ phony petition and urging them to not sign.” 

“We stand at another biblical moment in our historic fight – David versus Goliath. Delta and United Airlines—along with the hotel industry—want to steal wages from workers by erasing this critical law. Let’s call it what it is: grand theft larceny by modern-day robber barons. Workers and volunteers will be at every grocery store, park, farmers market and neighborhood defending the Olympic Wage and asking voters to not sign. If you see the anti-Olympic Wage petition circulators, report them!” said Kurt Petersen, Co-President UNITE HERE Local 11.

Rather than paying workers what they deserve, the industry which has already spent over 1 million dollars to stop their workers from earning a livable wage, is expected to spend millions more on this referendum. The efforts have major funding from Delta Airlines, United Airlines and the American Hotel & Lodging Association. Over the two years since the ordinance was introduced, the combined compensation of Delta, United, Hilton, and Marriott’s CEOs reached over $330 million. In just 2024, each of these CEOs’ raises ranged from 155% to over 602% of what they made in 2022. Meanwhile, over two years the minimum wage of tourism workers rose an average of $1.35 an hour. 

“The airlines and hotels would rather spend millions to overturn the living wage than give workers a dime now,” said David Huerta, President of SEIU United Service Workers West. “These are billion-dollar companies fighting to make sure that working families in L.A. don’t get a raise. Don’t be complicit. Don’t sign the CEO’s petition.”

“My co-workers and I spent two years trying to get this ordinance passed while still working long shifts at LAX. We missed time with our families and loved ones,” said Jovan Houston, a Customer Service Agent at LAX. “It’s heartbreaking to learn that the airlines, which we work so hard to make successful, would spend millions of dollars to make sure we get nothing.”

“We’ve beaten back these dirty tricks before,” said Jessica Durrum, Director of LAANE’s Tourism Workers Rising coalition. “For the past 30 years, we have seen big business and corporate lobbyists try to overturn hard-won living wage protections. And time and again, we’ve shown that when workers and the community stand together, we can and will uphold our living wage laws to ensure workers are healthy and housed.”

Airport and hotel workers fought hard to pass the Olympic Wage of $30 by the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Workers marched, picketed, occupied city hall, and met council members for two years to win this historic wage to lift up hospitality workers across the city. Last December workers fasted for days to pass the Olympic and Paralympic Wage. 

This is not the first time UNITE HERE Local 11 has led the way in passing historically strong living wage  laws for tourism workers. In 2016 they increased wages for hotel workers in Santa Monica, 2021 in West Hollywood, in 2022 in the City of Glendale and in 2024 voters in Long Beach passed a similar wage increase. 

BREAKING NEWS: Politically Powerful UNITE HERE Local 11 Passes Highest Wage in the Nation

Los Angeles: UNITE HERE Local 11 which represents over 32,000 cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, airport workers across Southern California and Arizona led the way for the Los Angeles City Council to raise the wage for tourism workers ahead of the 2028 Olympic & Paralympic Games.

“This wage increase is going to change the life of my daughter and I. As a single mother, I will no longer be forced to choose between paying the bills or buying her healthy food and saving for college. This Olympic and Paralympic wage will be good for working families like mine, the city and our overall economy,” said Sonia Ceron, dishwasher at Flying Food Group and airline catering company that prepares and packages meals for international flights for airlines like Japan Air, Singapore, Qantas and more.

The new law, dubbed the Olympic and Paralympic Wage, is the highest minimum wage in the United States. It will raise the wage of workers in airports and hotels in the city of Los Angeles to $30 by the 2028 Olympic and Paralympics. Mayor Bass is expected to sign the law in the coming weeks, and go into effect July 1st.

“Tourism workers have once again made history by winning the highest minimum wage in the nation! The Olympic and Paralympic Wage is the first step to ensure these mega events benefit hard working families and not just bosses and billionaires,” said Kurt Petersen co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11.

This is not the first time UNITE HERE Local 11 has led the way in passing historically strong living wage  laws for tourism workers. In 2016 they increased wages for hotel workers in Santa Monica, 2021 in West Hollywood, in 2022 in the City of Glendale and in 2024 voters in Long Beach passed a similar wage increase.

While 10,000 hotel workers won historic wage increases in the largest hotel strike in U.S. history led by UNITE HERE Local 11 in 2023 and 2024, thousands more in airports and hotels will benefit from the City of Los Angeles passing an Olympic Wage by modernizing the Living Wage Ordinance to raise hourly wages to $30/hour by 2028 and improve access to quality healthcare.  UNITE HERE Local 11’s hotel, airport and stadium contracts are set to expire in 2028, months before the Olympics and Paralympics.

Workers were joined throughout their over two year fight by LAANE, CLUE and many other community organizations as they repeatedly made their way to Council to demand a wage that would support working families across the Los Angeles region.

BREAKING NEWS: VICTORY: Workers at Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center Ratify Life-Changing 3-Year Agreement

Contract includes $12 an hour raise and protections on subcontracting

Long Beach, CA:  UNITE HERE Local 11 members at the  city-owned Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center have overwhelmingly ratified a historic agreement with the LBCEC operator, ASM Global.

“The improvements we won in our contract will help me pay my rent and feed my family. I will be able to take my kids out and enjoy time with my family without worrying about money,” said Jeanelle Cooper, concessions worker of 9 years at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center.

Included in the new agreement are:

  • Enormous wage increases totaling $12 an hour over the three-year agreement. Some workers will see a 65% raise!
  • Free family health insurance.
  • A 400% increase in pension contributions.
  • Strong protections to prevent the exploitation of subcontracted workers, a key sticking point in the negotiations.
  • Extension of contract to soon to be developed amphitheater, Long Beach Bowl.
  • Olympic Expiration Date:  January 15, 2028.  The workers will join 20,000 members whose contracts expire on the eve of the 2028 Olympics.  The LBCEC is scheduled to host events handball, and swimming.

In addition to the life changing wages and benefits, ASM Global also agreed to offer employment to all workers at the temporary staffing agency, 1Fifty1, which was the subject of allegations of potential wage theft which are being investigated by the California Labor Commissioner. ASM Global canceled its contract with 1Fifty1 temporary agency after workers came forward with these allegations. ASM Global has now offered employment to more than 25 former 1Fifty1 workers.  These workers will see their wages increase by 80% during the term of the contract.

“This wasn’t an easy contract to win,” says Andrea Romero, cook of 12 years at the Long Beach Convention & Event Center. “My coworkers and I didn’t have a choice, though. We won fair pay for the hard work that we do and the way we help the tourism industry prosper in Long Beach.”

“Solidarity was the key to this victory. Our members again showed extraordinary courage and unity—they refused to settle until the workers exploited by the temporary agency 1Fifty1 won justice. Now, those workers have the right to permanent jobs and will be covered by this extraordinary contract,” said Kurt Petersen, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11.

Workers at The Original Pantry comfort each other on the last day of restaurant operations after 100 years.

The Original Pantry Cafe Workers Refuse to Be Thrown Out on The Street

Steadfast after closure, workers at The Original Pantry say the fight for the restaurant’s future is not over

Community members protest the closure of LA icon The Original Pantry

The Original Pantry Café closed its doors for the last time at 5 PM yesterday,  according to the entity that controls the restaurant. But long-time workers are seeking further talks with the Richard J. Riordan Trust, the entity that decided to close the restaurant, in an ongoing effort to keep the L.A. icon open under new ownership.

Last night, after workers wiped down the tables and mopped the floors, they gathered in the restaurant’s historic dining room while still in uniform and asked to speak with a representative from the Trust. Trust representatives refused to speak with the workers and instead called the police on The Pantry’s employees.

Under threat of arrest, workers exited the restaurant peacefully at 7 PM to the cheers and applause of supporters rallying outside. The LAPD briefly detained and cited UNITE HERE Local 11 co-president Kurt Petersen.

“Mayor Riordan’s heirs and the trustees of his estate have chosen to discard these workers in a shameless move straight out of Elon Musk’s playbook,” said Petersen. “I think the late mayor would be appalled at the greed on display.”

In negotiations with UNITE HERE Local 11, the union that represents the workers, The Pantry gave its employees an ultimatum: The restaurant will shut down and fire all workers unless workers give up their demand for job security and continued union representation when the restaurant changes hands.

The Original Pantry worker Mary G speaks to the media on the last day of operations at the restaurant

Maricela Granados, a 26-year server known by her long-time customers as Mary G., said as she left the restaurant, “I didn’t believe they would really close and kick us all out. I’m not sure what I’m going to do next, but I won’t stop fighting for the Pantry.”

Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice have launched a GoFundMe for the fired workers.