PRESS RELEASES Archives - UNITE HERE Local 11

UNITE HERE Local 11 & Western States Regional Council of Carpenters Ran L.A.’s Largest Election Operation for Nithya Raman and Marissa Roy

November 4, 2026

LOS ANGELES: UNITE HERE Local 11 and the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters ran the largest field operation in this election. By election night, members will have knocked on 170,000 doors, made 1.5 million phone calls, and spoken to 50,000 voters for Nithya Raman for Mayor, Marissa Roy for City Attorney, Yes on Proposition 40, and No on Proposition 39.

Room attendants, cooks, dishwashers, theme park, airport, and stadium workers led the way. They walked and called for Raman because she stood with them. She was arrested in nonviolent civil disobedience in support of their historic strike for living wages. She protected the citywide Olympic Wage ordinance. She stood up to tech billionaires like Airbnb.

More than any other vote, the one that defined the election for UNITE HERE Local 11 members was the Mayor’s proposal to loosen regulations on short-term rental platforms like Airbnb, which Councilmember Raman strenuously opposed. Airbnb went on to become a major funder of the independent expenditure campaigns to elect both Mayor Bass and City Attorney candidate John McKinney, Marissa Roy’s opponent. Airbnb cofounder Joe Gebbia joined the Trump administration and in October made an eight million dollar donation to Prop 39, an effort that UNITE HERE Local 11 members believe is an attack on Latino voting rights.

“I knocked on doors and voted for Nithya Raman because she stood with us as my coworkers and I fought for the Olympic Wage. I supported Marissa Roy because we need someone who will hold employers and corporate landlords accountable when they break the law. More than anything, we need a city leadership that listens to working families, not billionaire corporations,” said Elisa Valencia, Flying Food Group worker and UNITE HERE Local 11 member

We are proud of every worker who stepped up and every voter who joined us. Whatever the results, our fight for a Los Angeles that puts working families first moved forward in this campaign.

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Paid for by UNITE HERE Local 11 PAC, 464 S. Lucas Ave., Suite 201, Los Angeles. Not authorized by or coordinated with a City candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate. Funding details at ethics.lacity.gov.

Burbank Airport Retail Workers Picket at New Terminal Opening

Burbank Airport workers picket on first day at new terminal to demand that Marshall Retail Group offers to retain all existing retail workers

October 13, 2026

Burbank, Calif.–The new terminal at the Hollywood Burbank Airport was set to open today with concessionaire Marshall Retail Group poised to take over retail operations. The day of the opening, workers are sounding the alarm over Marshall’s failure to keep the airport’s existing retail workforce.

From the beginning of the bidding process, the Commission governing the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority made it clear that retaining current airport employees was a priority. It voted to award Marshall’s bid to take over retail concessions after being told that all current workers would be retained.

However, workers report that Marshall has hired unbadged outsiders and not offered employment to the majority of veteran security-badged staff. In failing to keep most of the outgoing concessionaire’s employees, Marshall has relied in part on what appears to be a drafting error in its concession agreement with the airport. The purpose of the worker retention requirement is to ensure the retention of the airport’s existing workforce, and to avoid dislocation of employees during the transition. Marshall’s conduct undermines this purpose.

“When I learned that Marshall would not automatically retain me, I applied twice for a position with them and still have not received a job offer. I rely on this job to pay my bills, and I’m not sure what I would do without it,” said Diego Rosales, a current retail employee at the airport who has yet to receive an employment offer from Marshall.

“I have dedicated 20 years of my life to serving passengers at the Burbank Airport,” said Karla Williams, another employee. “I have always worked the morning shift so I can pick up my 7-year old daughter from school. Because Marshall hasn’t agreed to let me keep my shift, I am left in limbo. Meanwhile, the company struggles to fill open positions with people off the street who have no experience and no badge.”

“When the Airport Authority awarded Marshall Retail this valuable contract, it was told these workers’ jobs would be protected. Now most of them haven’t even received an offer. These are experienced, dedicated, hardworking people. They and their families deserve better,” said Robin Rodriguez, Organizing Director for UNITE HERE Local 11.

Workers are demanding that Marshall offer to retain all existing retail workers. The union has also sent a letter to the Airport Authority requesting that the Commission take steps to correct and conform the existing worker retention requirement to accurately reflect the Commission’s intended directives, and investigate Marshall’s conduct on worker retention to date.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Hundreds of Universal Studios Hollywood Theme Park Workers Vote Overwhelmingly to Authorize Strike

September 25, 2026

The Strike authorization comes as survey finds large numbers of park’s food service workers have experienced hunger and homelessness, with one in four having relied on food assistance programs

Los Angeles, CA – Workers at Universal Studios Hollywood theme park voted over 98% to authorize a strike on Friday. Workers have been in negotiations for months with NBCUniversal Comcast, but have failed to reach an agreement.

“If I didn’t have my rideshare job on the side, I wouldn’t have enough to pay my rent next week.” said Stephanie, a Cook in the Upper Lot. “Every week I’m having to make choices like ‘do I pay for the internet, or do I pay for my phone? Do I buy food, or do I pay rent?’ It’s exhausting playing mental gymnastics with my paycheck. I’m tired of it, that’s why I voted to go on strike”.

Workers’ collective bargaining agreement with NBCUniversal expired on December 31st. The union reports that the company has not made significant movement on much-needed wage increases, affordable and accessible health insurance, and fair staffing.

“I live in Fresno and take the train to get to the park,” said Diego, a Food Stand Attendant at the Food Carts, “the commute back so long I usually have to sleep at the park in one of the employee lounges. If I could afford to live closer I would because I love this job, but with what I make and the few hours I get, I just can’t afford it”

“I have worked here for 13 years, and it used to be a fun job. But now I just clock in and out and leave. For Universal to try and eliminate my seniority, feels like they are trying to erase the years of work I have dedicated to the park.” said Satoshi a Food Stand Attendant at Toadstool

The strike authorization comes after a survey conducted by UNITE HERE Local 11 found a striking number of Universal Studios food service workers are struggling to afford basic needs like food and housing. The survey — in which 828 workers, nearly half of the park’s food service workforce, participated — found:

52.9% reported that over the past year there were times they were hungry but didn’t eat because there wasn’t enough money for food.
11.3% — roughly 1 in 9 — reported having been unhoused at some point while working at Universal Studios.
60.1% of workers surveyed reported having had to choose between food, medications, and housing in the past year.
25.7% reported receiving benefits from a food stamps program, SNAP, WIC, food banks, or other food donation services in the past year.

Meanwhile, revenue and executive pay has soared. Comcast reported that its theme parks division took in $9.8 billion in revenue in 2025, up 14.2% from the year before. In that same year, executive pay rose sharply. Comcast’s 2026 proxy statement discloses that co-CEO Mike Cavanagh’s compensation jumped 154% in 2025, to $71.8 million. Chairman and co-CEO Brian Roberts received $35.2 million — 381 times what the median Comcast employee made, by the company’s own calculation.

Workers could walk out any day following the authorization.

PRESS RELEASE: Two Women Sue Flying Food Group Over Alleged Sexual Assaults

September 22, 2026

Lawsuit alleges the retaliatory termination of one of the two women; a third worker has filed a state civil rights complaint against the company alleging harassment by the same manager

LOS ANGELES — Two women employed at Flying Food Group’s facility serving Los Angeles International Airport filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court today alleging that the then-Executive Chef of its hot kitchen sexually assaulted them.

The complaint alleges that the manager invited the women to go drinking with him at the end of a long shift while they were still at Flying Food’s facility, directed them from the workplace to a vacant, unfurnished house he owned, where he plied them with alcohol for hours – while drinking little himself – and then sexually assaulted each of them in an empty room in the back of the house.

The complaint also alleges that the manager at one point told a coworker that he was going to “f*** them all,” referring to women he supervised in the kitchen.

The complaint further alleges that in the months that followed the assault, the manager subjected both women to escalating and selective discipline at work – and that in late August 2026, after one of the women took steps signaling that she intended to pursue legal action, Flying Food Group terminated her employment.

“Even though it is hard, I am coming forward because what happened to us should never happen to any woman who just wants to do her job. Flying Food Group needs to be held accountable,” said Zayra Lopez, one of the women bringing the lawsuit.

“I am doing this for my daughter. If God forbid something like this ever happened to her, I would want her to feel like she could come forward,” said Estefania Amador, the other plaintiff in the case.

A third worker has also filed a complaint against Flying Food Group with the California Civil Rights Department, alleging that the same manager repeatedly propositioned her at work over a period of months – advances she rebuffed every time. The complaint alleges that she, too, was recently terminated.

“I commend my clients for their courage in coming forward and speaking publicly about their allegations of sexual assault at the hands of their supervisor,” said Lauren Teukolsky, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs. According to the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC), 70% of individuals who experience sexual harassment never report it.

Six other women previously came forward with allegations that they experienced sexual harassment at Flying Food Group’s LAX facility – including several who alleged that, after coming forward, they were subjected to discipline, suspension, and threats of termination.

Flying Food Group has prepared food at LAX for airlines including Air France, Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Japan Airlines, ANA, Singapore Airlines, Qantas, and Air New Zealand, among others. The company is only permitted to operate at Los Angeles International Airport under a special license issued by the City of Los Angeles. That license is currently up for renewal, and Los Angeles World Airports is investigating the company’s compliance record following a February request by Mayor Karen Bass.

The filings come amid mounting government scrutiny of the company’s operations at LAX. Over the last several years, five different government agencies — Cal/OSHA, the California Labor Commissioner, the California Highway Patrol, the National Labor Relations Board, and the City of Los Angeles’ Bureau of Contract Administration — have issued citations or complaints against the company for violations of worker protection and public safety laws, including workplace safety violations, wage theft, and unfair labor practices.

Most recently, on May 20, 2026, Cal/OSHA issued six new Citations and Notifications of Penalty to the company, including four classified as “serious,” carrying $74,000 in total proposed penalties. Those citations followed a fire at the company’s Inglewood facility on January 22, 2026, during which, according to a complaint filed with Cal/OSHA, two workers were found inside a cold storage room whose entrance door had been chained shut from the outside. At each of the company’s two facilities serving LAX, Cal/OSHA cited a serious violation for failing to ensure that cold storage rooms could be opened from the inside — the same hazard for which the agency first cited the company in 2023.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are represented by Lauren Teukolsky of Teukolsky Law and Jeremy Blasi of UNITE HERE Local 11.

PRESS RELEASE: UNITE HERE Local 11 Endorses Nithya Raman for L.A. Mayor, Calling for a City That Workers Can Afford to Live

September 1, 2026

Los Angeles: The politically powerful labor union, UNITE HERE Local 11 announced its endorsement of the mayoral candidate Nithya Raman who they believe will stand with working families, protect affordable housing and put the needs of Angelenos ahead of powerful corporate interests like Airbnb.

Brenda Mendoza, Laundry attendant at the JW Marriott L.A Live, member of UNITE HERE Local 11 said, “For 16 years, I have worked at the JW Marriott in Downtown Los Angeles, but I can no longer afford to live in the city where I was born, raised, and work. I was priced out of Koreatown and now live hours away in Apple Valley. I wake up at 2:30 in the morning, spend as much as four hours a day driving my family and myself to work, and sometimes get only three hours of sleep. I’ve watched more and more of my coworkers get pushed out of Los Angeles to Victorville, Lancaster, Bakersfield, and even farther away. Working people should be able to afford to live in the city we keep running every day. Nithya Raman has stood with workers like me on our picket lines, and I believe she will fight for us as mayor. I’m ready to fight for her, too, and help get Los Angeles out to vote. ¡Vamos con Nithya!”

The union says Nithya Raman will enforce the city’s laws on behalf of working people, not corporate landlords and donors, starting with housing. Los Angeles has failed to enforce its existing short term rental regulations and ensure working people can afford to live in the communities where they work.

“Our members understand the stakes better than most. They clean the rooms, cook the food, serve the guests, and welcome millions of visitors who come to Los Angeles every year. Our members are the people who help make Los Angeles a world-class destination—and they deserve to be able to afford to live in the city they help make thrive.

That’s what this election is about: Who is Los Angeles going to work for? We need a mayor who will stand with the working people who keep this city running and who isn’t afraid to take on powerful corporate interests when they threaten our communities. Nithya Raman will fight alongside our members to protect working families, enforce our laws, preserve our housing, and hold corporations like Airbnb accountable when they take desperately needed homes off the market,” said Ada Briceño, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11.

Nithya Raman, candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles, said, “UNITE HERE Local 11 members make Los Angeles’s hospitality industry run, and they should be able to afford to live in the city that depends on their labor. I am deeply honored to have their endorsement and proud of the work we have already done together. Local 11 knows how to take on powerful corporations and win. As mayor, I look forward to taking our collective fight citywide: building the housing we need, creating good union jobs, and making City Hall answer to the people who live and work here instead of the corporations trying to buy influence over it.”

According to Better Neighbors LA’s 2026 Revenue/Housing Report, more than half of Los Angeles’ short-term rental market is noncompliant with city regulations. The organization estimates that the city could collect approximately $47 million per month in fines through enforcement of existing short-term rental law and would bring 1,000’s of units back into homes for residents.

Nithya Raman will stand up to the billionaire class and fight for housing as Airbnb has emerged as a major political spender in Los Angeles, pouring more than $19 million into political committees and efforts supporting candidates for office while pushing City Hall for more lenient short-term rental regulations, spending aimed at using the Olympics to further erode housing for Angelenos rather than protect it.

UNITE HERE Local 11 announced it was prepared to mobilize its army of members into the field on behalf of Nithya Raman. During the primary election, the union’s members and volunteers knocked on more than 300,000 doors, the largest ground operation in the state, making Local 11’s endorsement one of the most sought-after in city politics.

PRESS RELEASE: Lawsuit Filed Against Long Beach Yacht Club for Alleged Pregnancy-Based Harassment and Retaliation

August 26, 2026

Lawsuit alleges the Yacht Club’s executive chef surveilled pregnant employee’s bathroom breaks, publicly humiliated the expecting mother for requesting accommodations, and retaliated against her

Long Beach, Calif.: Julianne Perez filed a lawsuit against the Long Beach Yacht Club alleging that she endured sex-based harassment and retaliation while working at the private club. The lawsuit follows a complaint Ms. Perez filed with the California Civil Rights Department in April, in which she alleged that the Yacht Club failed to correct the retaliation and harassment Ms. Perez she allegedly endured during her two pregnancies between 2023 and 2025.

According to the lawsuit, the Yacht Club’s executive chef insulted Ms. Perez’s work ethic when she requested shorter shifts because of her pregnancy and questioned whether such accommodations were necessary. The executive chef allegedly mocked Ms. Perez in front of kitchen staff after she extended her maternity leave in 2024 because she was struggling with post-partum depression. The complaint also alleges that the executive chef timed Ms. Perez’s restroom breaks when she was pregnant and scolded her if he thought she took too long. He allegedly scolded her so often that at times she urinated herself instead of using the restroom just to avoid discipline.

The lawsuit further alleges that Ms. Perez and fellow employees, including a former manager, reported the executive chef’s harassment to the Yacht Club’s Human Resources department on multiple occasions, but failed to take proper corrective action. The executive chef remains employed at the Yacht Club.

Ms. Perez was scheduled to return from maternity leave on August 5, 2026. However, according to the lawsuit, the Yacht Club’s failure to end the executive chef’s harassment of Ms. Perez forced her to resign from her
position two days before her scheduled return.

“I am filing this lawsuit to hold the Long Beach Yacht Club accountable and to stand up for every woman who has faced harassment or mistreatment in the workplace, especially during pregnancy. No woman should ever have to choose between protecting herself and her unborn child and keeping her job. I’m speaking up not only for myself, but in the hope that no other woman at the Yacht Club will ever have to endure what I did. I want accountability, I want change, and I want women to know they deserve to feel safe, respected, and protected at work.”

The Long Beach Yacht Club is a private club located on public land. Workers at the club are currently negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with UNITE HERE Local 11 to secure the protections and dignified working conditions all workers, including pregnant women, deserve.

Ms. Perez is represented by Lauren Teukolsky of Teukolsky Law and Jeremy Blasi of UNITE HERE Local 11.

BREAKING NEWS: Workers File New Safety Complaint on Alleged Maggots, Mold, Cockroaches and Other Issues at LAX Caterer Flying Food Group

August 5, 2026

Complaint follows Cal/OSHA citations for multiple “serious” workplace safety violations

LOS ANGELES: Workers have filed a complaint with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), urging state inspectors to investigate allegations of unsafe or unsanitary conditions inside Flying Food Group’s airline catering facilities serving Los Angeles International Airport.

The complaint, filed on behalf of workers by UNITE HERE Local 11, alleges that employees have been exposed to a range of unsafe conditions—including what workers reported to be maggots, mold, and cockroaches, as well as inadequate soap and paper towels and excessive heat—inside facilities responsible for preparing thousands of airline meals. The union has submitted photographs, videos, and worker testimony and is calling for an expedited on-site inspection.

According to the complaint, in late June 2026, one longtime employee was allegedly ordered to open airline dish carts that had sat unopened for an extended period and discovered dishes covered in decomposing food, and what appeared to be mold, maggots, and flies, producing an overwhelming stench. The worker allegedly suggested that the dishes be discarded, but was instead instructed by a supervisor to wash them because the dishes were needed for an upcoming flight. According to the complaint, the worker—who reported experiencing stomach pain, a headache, and a strange sensation in her nose while handling the noxious material—was not provided a mask or respirator to protect herself.

The complaint also alleges that workers have reported seeing what they believed to be cockroaches and other vermin in various parts of the facility—including in food preparation areas, near employee changing stations, near airline food carts, and inside the employee cafeteria. The complaint cites California laws requiring that employers provide a safe workplace and take steps to prevent the entrance or harborage of insects, rodents or other vermin.

The complaint also alleges that bathrooms and handwashing stations have often lacked adequate soap or paper towels, forcing employees to search elsewhere before returning to prepare food. Additionally, the complaint raises concerns about the quality of food served to workers at the facility, including allegations of expired or stale bread, food contaminated by debris, and improperly stored food.

The complaint also describes dangerously high temperatures in the facility’s dish room. A longtime employee reports that heat and humidity regularly make the room feel like “being in a sauna,” allegedly causing fatigue, dehydration, and headaches, and that a coworker reportedly nearly fainted from the heat. According to the complaint, management has been made aware of the problem but has not been provided a solution. The complaint asserts that these and other incidents, taken together, indicate that the company lacks the effective injury and illness prevention program required by California law.

“No one should have to work around maggots, cockroaches, mold, and rotting food just to earn a paycheck, as this complaint alleges,” said Susan Minato, Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11, which represents the workers. “The workers who prepare meals for airline passengers deserve a workplace that meets the most basic standards of cleanliness and safety. We ask Cal/OSHA to take these issues seriously and investigate immediately.”

A Record of Safety Violations

Flying Food Group’s LAX operations have a long record of alleged safety violations. Most recently, in May 2026, Cal/OSHA issued the company six citations, including four it termed “Serious.” Two of the serious violations related to the company’s failure to ensure that cold storage rooms at two LAX facilities could be utilized safely and opened from the inside. In August 2023, Cal/OSHA had cited the company for the same storage room entrapment hazard—as part of a six-violation citation that also included bolting an exit door shut from the outside on the day of a planned worker picket line—but the company apparently did not correct the hazard. This led to a near tragedy during a fire in January 2026 in which two workers were found inside a cooler room whose entrance door had been chained shut from the outside. These citations and a summary are available here.

The complaint comes amid an ongoing labor dispute between Flying Food Group and UNITE HERE Local 11 over conditions at the company’s LAX facilities. In the course of that dispute, the union has proposed multiple workplace safety protections which Flying Food Group has rejected.

Flying Food Group is an airline catering company that provides in-flight meals for international airlines flying out of LAX like Lufthansa, Air France, SWISS Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Austrian Airlines, LOT Polish, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines, ANA, Starlux, China Southern, Qantas, Air New Zealand, and Hawaiian Airlines. LAX authorities recently gave FFG only a six-month extension—terminating at the end of 2026—to its license to operate at LAX. The City has launched an investigation into the Company’s safety and labor practices.

ANNOUNCEMENT: California Labor Commissioner’s Landmark $2.75 Million Anaheim Marriott Settlement Addresses Alleged Violations of the State’s Right to Recall Law Protecting Hospitality Workers Laid Off During the COVID-19 Pandemic

August 4, 2026

UNITE HERE Local 11 held a press conference to announce a $2.75 million settlement with the Anaheim Marriott to resolve a citation against the Anaheim Marriott alleging that the hotel violated state law by failing to timely offer available positions to eligible former employees laid-off during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The settlement follows complaints filed by workers under California’s Right to Recall law. Enacted in 2021 as Senate Bill 93, the law requires covered hotels, event centers and other hospitality businesses to offer available positions to qualified former employees laid off for reasons related to the pandemic, based on seniority.

The California Labor Commissioner’s Office conducted an investigation in response to complaints alleging violations of the law. Anaheim Marriott workers who filed complaints included servers, cooks and room attendants.

PRESS RELEASE: As L.A. City Investigation Continues, Serial Lawbreaker Flying Food Group Quietly Moves to Repay Dozens of Workers It Failed to Provide Required Healthcare Benefits in Apparent Violation of LAX Living Wage Law

July 29, 2026

LOS ANGELES — As the City of Los Angeles continues investigating Flying Food Group for alleged violations of the LAX Living Wage Ordinance, the airline caterer has begun quietly paying dozens of workers after city investigators uncovered an additional apparent violation involving required healthcare benefits.

In March of this year, workers filed a complaint with the City of Los Angeles alleging that Flying Food Group’s newly implemented healthcare plan failed to satisfy the LAX Living Wage Ordinance’s healthcare benefit requirement, which currently requires employers to provide qualifying health benefits valued at $7.65 per hour or pay the equivalent amount in additional wages. Workers contend the company’s health plan is worth less than the required amount, leaving nearly all 800 workers underpaid. That investigation remains ongoing.

During the course of the investigation, however, the City’s Bureau of Contract Administration (BCA) uncovered a separate violation. Investigators found that Flying Food Group failed to provide any healthcare credit at all to some workers, resulting in an underpayment of $7.65 per hour for every hour worked. It appears the violation primarily affected newly hired employees but also included several longtime workers.

“The number of times this company has failed to pay workers what we are owed or done something else to break the law is just crazy. These payments show me the company had the money to pay us all along. That is a company that does not respect us or value us,” said Pascual Salgado, a worker at Flying Food Group

After BCA notified Flying Food Group of the violation, the company began issuing payments to affected workers last week, with individual payments reportedly ranging from several hundred dollars to approximately $14,000. Flying Food Group has since submitted a list of workers it says have been paid, and BCA is now reviewing whether all affected employees were included and whether the payment amounts fully compensate workers for what they are owed.

Flying Food Group has violated the Living Wage Ordinance on multiple occasions previously, with multiple “notice of corrections” issued to the company and its subcontractors by BCA and two class action lawsuits, and the company agreeing to paying millions in back wages to workers. The company has twice sued the City, claiming the Living Wage Ordinance did not apply to them, and in the last instance, the settlement agreement included a commitment by the company that they would not make such a challenge again.

The discovery marks the latest alleged labor law violation involving Flying Food Group. In addition to the past violations of the Living Wage Ordinance, the company has also received citations or settled complaints with Cal/OSHA, the California Labor Commissioner, the National Labor Relations Board and the California Highway Patrol..

Flying Food Group is an airline catering company that provides in-flight meals for international airlines flying out of LAX like Lufthansa, Air France, SWISS Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Austrian Airlines, LOT Polish, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines, ANA, Starlux, China Southern Qantas, Air New Zealand, and Hawaiian Airlines. Flying Food Group was recently given only a 6-month license extension by the City of Los Angeles which lasts until the end of 2026.

BREAKING NEWS: Airline Caterer Flying Food Group with Record of Worker Abuse Receives “Yellow Card,” Placed on 6-Month Probation by City of LA

July 1, 2026

LOS ANGELES, CA. In the wake of numerous complaints about worker safety and other abuses, the body that runs LAX – Los Angeles World Airports or “LAWA” – has decided to put a major airline caterer for international flights, Flying Food Group, on a status akin to probation.

Companies serving LAX must obtain a special permit called a Certified Service Provider License from the City. Complying with worker protections is a condition of such licenses, which have historically been granted for periods of five years.

Flying Food Group has been embroiled in controversy for years, as five different government agencies issued citations or complaints against the company for issues ranging from paying workers less than the minimum wage to serious safety hazards.

In response to persistent complaints from workers, LAWA has now decided to deny FFG an ordinary five-year license, and instead issue the company a conditional term for a period of just six months. It is expected that LAX will continue an ongoing investigation of FFG’s record during this period to determine whether the conditional license should be continued.

Given this development, major airlines that have been sourcing from FFG–including Virgin Atlantic, Air New Zealand, Air France, Lufthansa, Swiss Airways, ANA, Japan Airlines, and Qantas–may need to look to alternative suppliers for their inflight meals.

Serving the airport is a lucrative business, with Certified Service Provider License holders collectively making close to a half billion dollars a year. Flying Food Group is one of the highest-grossing of these companies, making $112 million in revenue in FY 2025.

In April 2026, the Board of Airport Commissioners granted LAWA staff the authority to approve new 5-year terms for all 77 firms that have entered into Certified Service Provider Licenses. LAWA staff created three categories for license renewal: five-year renewals for low risk companies and industries, one-year renewals for companies and industries with higher risk and six-month probationary renewals that require more in-depth review.

LAX placed Flying Food Group in the final category, which workers have taken to calling the “penalty box.” The move follows years of worker complaints to City leaders by Flying Food Group workers, who have raised concerns about alleged wage theft, retaliation, sexual harassment, and other issues at 48 LAWA meetings.

Over the last several months, two separate reports have detailed the company’s long record of labor abuse: one report co-authored by the former Deputy Director General of the International Labor Organization–and another report endorsed by a Truth Commission of major labor and civil rights leaders and experts.

Most recently, last month Cal/OSHA issued the company four new citations it deemed “serious,” including two citations for failing to ensure that workers could exit cold storage rooms–a hazard for which it was previously cited and which led to a near tragedy during a fire in January in which two workers were found in a cooler room that had been locked from the outside.

Workers and labor leaders reacted to the decision as a positive step in the efforts to hold City licensees accountable for worker abuse, while at the same time urging the City to LAWA and Mayor Karen Bass to now revoke Flying Foods Group’s conditional license.

Elisa Valencia, a worker at Flying Food Group, said:
“I am glad the City has taken this step to begin to hold FFG accountable. We work hard serving travelers and we deserve to work in conditions that do not endanger our lives.”

Susan Minato, Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11, said:
“No company is above the law. For years, Flying Food Group workers have courageously spoken out about unsafe conditions, wage theft, and a culture that puts profits ahead of people. We’re now finally seeing the City begin to listen to their cries for help. But while this is an important first step, the truth is that this company has committed more ‘red cards’ at this point than any we’ve ever seen and they have no business operating at LAX.”

The City of Los Angeles has already issued six determinations finding Flying Food Group or its subcontractors in violation of the airport minimum wage ordinance and is currently investigating an additional complaint. Since 2017, the company has settled two wage theft class-action lawsuits totaling more than $4.5 million.

Today’s decision represents a significant step forward for airline catering workers who have spent years demanding safer workplaces, legal compliance, and accountability from one of LAX’s largest service providers. Workers will continue to organize until full accountability is reached.