CA Labor Commissioner Issues $3.3 Million Citation to Terranea Resort for Failing to Rehire Laid Off Workers

Press Contact: Maria Hernandez | 623-340-8047 | [email protected]

In first-of-its-kind legal action, agency alleges resort violated state “return-to-work” law for workers laid off during the pandemic

Rancho Palos Verdes, CA-  The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) issued a citation Wednesday totalling $3,264,484 to the swanky but controversial Terranea Resort, alleging that the hotel failed to recall, or to timely recall, workers to their former positions in violation of a recently-enacted state law. The Terranea resort is the first company known to be cited by the agency for allegedly violating workers’ rights under the law.

Signed into law last year, SB-93 requires hotels, event centers, and other hospitality businesses to offer employees whom they laid off due the COVID-19 downturn in tourism an opportunity to return to work in open positions for which they are qualified in order of seniority. The law provides job protection to some 700,000 laid-off housekeepers, cooks, waiters, and others across the state.

David Gomez Martinez, who was laid off by the Terranea after working 10 years at the resort, said: “Being laid off during the pandemic has been devastating for me and my family. We’ve struggled to pay our bills and keep food on the table. I am really glad to see the state stepping in to make sure Terranea complies with the law.”

The DLSE, which is led by California’s Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower, conducted an investigation in response to complaints from workers alleging violations of the recall law. More than a dozen Terranea workers–including servers, cooks, and room attendants–filed complaints.

After investigating Terranea’s entire recall process, the DLSE issued the citation to Terranea for $3,264,484 in liquidated damages and interest owed to 53 workers for Terranea’s alleged failure to recall, or timely recall, workers laid-off due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Terranea was also assessed $5,300 in civil penalties ($100 for each worker whose rights were violated).

Terranea workers were at the forefront of the campaign to enact SB-93. The company terminated most of its employees without making a binding commitment to rehire them and cut off their healthcare at the beginning of the pandemic.

Kurt Petersen, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11, the hospitality workers’ union that fought for the law and helped the workers file complaints, said: “The Terranea has treated its veteran workers like they are disposable. This kind of behavior is not only immoral, but as the agency’s massive citation shows, it can also be illegal.” He continued: “I commend the Labor Commissioner for conducting such a thorough investigation and showing that our worker protection laws have real teeth.”

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UNITE HERE Local 11 is a labor union representing over 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona that work in hotels, restaurants, universities, stadiums, sports arenas, convention centers, and airports.

On Eve of Super Bowl UNITE HERE Local 11 & NFLPA Honor Former Rams Player Kenny Washington

Joined by prominent labor, political, and civil rights leaders to celebrate SoFi Stadium’s union recognition with focus on tourism as economic engine

Los Angeles – Union members, labor leaders, elected officials, and allies gathered in celebration of a resolution passed to “commemorate February 13, 2022, as Kenny Washington Day and recognize his trailblazing contributions in breaking the color barrier in the NFL and his service to the City”.

Washington’s vision of a more inclusive sports world lives on as concessions workers at SoFi Stadium fight for good jobs in a region that has predominantly left out black workers.

Kurt Petersen, Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11, said, “More than 30,000 professional hospitality workers – bartenders, servers, room attendants, cooks – who have built and who sustain our region’s most important and largest industry, tourism. We believe that when hospitality workers can provide for themselves and their families, they lift up the entire city with them.”

Susan Minato, Co-President of Local 11 and Chair of Trustees of the Hospitality Training Academy, reminded everyone that it takes intention to do the work. “Local 11 has set the goal to reintegrate our hospitality industry that has systematically removed African Africans. It takes bringing jobs to communities like Inglewood. But not just any jobs – they need to be good jobs where people can support themselves and their families.”

“At SoFi stadium, UNITE HERE Local 11 has advanced the cause of racial, economic, and gender justice,” said Reverend James Lawson, architect of the Civil Rights Movement.

Chris Smith, a suite attendant at SoFi Stadium, celebrated the union victory. “This union job makes it possible for me to accomplish my dream – buying a house. My dream is in my hands now. It’s monumental to the African American community – for example dishwashers will be making $30 an hour and family health insurance by end of the contract.”

Kenny Washington’s family was presented with the resolution and stadium workers will celebrate union recognition. Ahead of Super Bowl Sunday, the event honored the important work former Rams player Kenny Washington did to integrate sports and highlight what is being done now to bring good jobs to the region.

“Kenny Washington has a special place in history, in the story of the NFL, in the story of Los Angeles, in the story of fighting for justice, equality and inclusivity EVERYWHERE,” said Councilmember Curren Price. “I’m proud to have introduced a resolution that officially marks February 13, 2022 as ‘Kenny Washington Day’ in the City of Angels.”

“We are incredibly proud as a family, after all these years, that there is interest in telling my grandfather’s story,” said Kirk Washington, grandson of former Rams player Kenny Washington.

Super Bowl LVI marks the first of many sporting events to be hosted in Southern California in the coming years and will serve as an example of what can be achieved when workers, elected leaders and the community are a part of that process.

“Today’s solidarity event was a testament to the values of diversity, inclusion and equity that our union brothers and sisters stand for, just as Kenny Washington did so courageously when he broke the modern NFL color barrier in 1946,” said DeMaurice Smith, Executive Director of the NFL Player’s Association.

“In order to win justice for workers of color and the communities they live in, we must empower them economically, which includes increasing access to good union jobs,” said Ron Herrera, the President of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.. “I am proud of the work that the Los Angeles Labor Movement has done to ensure that SoFi stadium provides good union jobs for communities of color in this region.

“Working people shouldn’t have to walk through fire to organize a union and have a good paying job because we know that unions transform people’s lives and entire communities, not just one workplace. And that’s what this SoFi agreement will do,” said Liz Shuler, President of the AFL-CIO.

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The National Football League Players Association is the union for professional football players in the National Football League. Established in 1956, the NFLPA has a long history of assuring proper recognition and representation of players’ interests. The NFLPA has shown that it will do whatever is necessary to assure that the rights of players are protected—including ceasing to be a union, if necessary, as it did in 1989. In 1993, the NFLPA again was officially recognized as the union representing the players and negotiated a landmark Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFL. The current CBA will govern the sport through the 2030 NFL season. Learn more at www.nflpa.com.

Sierra Club, Climate Action Campaign, and Hotel Workers’ Union Call on Escondido City Council to replace JC Resorts as Golf Course Operator and Consider Alternative Uses for the Site

PRESS ADVISORY: 1/25/2022
PRESS CONTACT: Jordan Fein
[email protected]
312-576-5048

Reidy Creek Golf Course in Escondido has presented challenges for taxpayers, and presents opportunity for housing and open space in order to save water and natural resources used to maintain the course.

Escondido, CA – On Wednesday, January 26, the City of Escondido will consider a request for proposals for the management of Reidy Creek Golf Course and Concessions. The City’s ten-year contract with JC Resorts expires on June 30, 2022.

A coalition of hotel workers’ union locals and environmental groups are calling on the City to replace current Reidy Creek operator, JC Resorts, and reconsider the use of the site as a golf course altogether. 

The course has presented challenges for Escondido taxpayers. The San Diego Union-Tribune called the course a “municipal money pit” in October 2018. Since 2018, Escondido taxpayers have continued to subsidize the Reidy Creek course.  

The coalition is urging the City to consider alternative uses for the site, such as housing and open space. The average 18-hole golf course reportedly uses almost 90 million gallons of water per year. As referenced in the San Diego Climate Action Campaign’s “Solving Sprawl” report, repurposing municipal golf courses like Reidy Creek into open space and other uses would save water and natural resources used to maintain the course.  

The organizations will deliver public comment during Wednesday night’s council meeting and continue to push for an alternative vision for Reidy Creek as the contract expiration date nears.

UNITE HERE Local 11 Endorses “Living Wage Hero” Lindsey Horvath for Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Danielle Wilson | dwilson[at]unitehere11[dot]org | 818-534-799nine

Los Angeles – UNITE HERE Local 11 is proud to endorse West Hollywood City Councilmember Lindsey Horvath for Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors District 3. She was a decisive vote in passing the highest citywide minimum wage in the country.

Horvath’s victory on the minimum wage wasn’t easy. As early as 2015, the young Councilmember led the “Fight for $15” in West Hollywood, but despite her advocacy the then-City Council did not pass her proposal. This past summer Horvath became Mayor of the city, and things started to change. Mayor Horvath fought for and won groundbreaking legislation to protect hotel housekeepers from sexual assault, give them the right to return to their jobs by seniority amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and to improve the minimum wage to make sure housekeepers are fairly compensated for heavy workloads. Just months later, Horvath was the deciding vote to pass the highest minimum wage in the country at $17.64, making West Hollywood a national leader on policy for working people.

“Lindsey exemplifies what it means to be a public servant who fights for working people,” said Kurt Petersen, Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11. “Our members can count on her no matter what, and that’s who we need to send to the Board of Supervisors.”

“The new minimum wage in West Hollywood will change my life, the lives of hotel workers across town, and all workers,” said Sandra Pellecer, who has worked as a cook in West Hollywood hotels for 16 years. “Lindsey Horvath fought for us and I’m proud to stand with her.”

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UNITE HERE Local 11 is a labor union representing 32,000 members who work in hotels, restaurants, universities, convention centers, and airports.

Hunger Strike for Voting Rights Day 5: Hunger strikers deliver massive cake iced with “Voting Rights Now” to Senator Sinema

CASE Action, UNITE HERE Local 11 activists find new ways to urge Senate to pass Freedom To Vote Act 

Phoenix: Yesterday, activists with UNITE HERE Local 11 and CASE Action entered the fifth day of their hunger strike to urge elected leaders to pass critical voting rights legislation by gathering outside of Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s office to deliver a message—and a cake.

Four helpers accompanied the group of half a dozen hunger strikers in wheelchairs and red sashes to carry the 200-serving cake iced with the message “Voting Rights Now”–an invitation to Senator Sinema to join in the campaigns to secure voting rights. Along with the cake, the Arizona hunger strikers attempted to deliver their handwritten letters to Senator Sinema expressing concern about her inaction on voting rights. Senator Sinema’s staff did not accept the cake or their letters.

“We came here to tell Senator Sinema that we hope she will deliver voting rights for the people of Arizona,” said Marilyn Wilbur, hunger striker with CASE Action and 18-year US Air Force veteran. “No matter what happens, I will continue to fight for the voting rights we deserve.” 

“Voting Rights Now” was also the message on banners held by fellow hunger strikers today who took arrest on the steps of the U.S. Senate while the body began debate on the Freedom to Vote: John Lewis Act.

“What these strikers have done to protect our right to vote is creating a generational impact. We are with you for what comes next as we continue to build our beloved community,” said Dr. Jannah Scott of the African American Christian Clergy Coalition.

“I have faith that my sacrifice of going four days without eating has told Senator Sinema and all of Congress that I will keep doing whatever it takes to be on the right side of the history of this beautiful country,” said Irma Pacheco, a hunger striker in Arizona with CASE Action and UNITE HERE Local 11.

In the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of laid off cooks, housekeepers, dishwashers, and bartenders with CASE Action and UNITE HERE Local 11 knocked on a million doors to win Arizona for Biden, and delivered two U.S Senate seats in Georgia. 

Last year, the Arizona state legislature passed laws that hurt both workers and voters by purging early permanent voting rolls and other harmful anti-voter changes. Since the 2020 election, state legislatures across the country have introduced hundreds of bills that make it harder for working people and people of color to vote.

CASE Action Fund is an economic justice organization dedicated to improving the lives of Arizona’s working families through policy advocacy and increasing participation in the political process

Hunger Strike Kick-Off Ahead of MLK Day by UNITE HERE Local 11, CASE Action & Un-PAC to Urge Senate to Pass of Freedom To Vote Act 

Local 11 and CASE Action launch the hunger strike for the freedom to vote at the Arizona capitol

PHOENIX–UNITE HERE Local 11, CASE Action, and Un-PAC today launched a hunger strike outside the Arizona State Capitol to continue to pressure elected leaders in Washington to pass the Freedom to Vote Act.

On day 1, strikers were joined by State Senator Raquel Teran and Pastor Aubrey Barnwell, among others.

Beatriz Topete, an organizing director with UNITE HERE Local 11, said, “It isn’t time to roll back the clock on voting rights–it’s time to move forward! Just yesterday, 40 of our fellow activists with un-PAC relaunched their hunger strike in Washington DC. And today, strikers in Arizona are joining in because we know that Arizonans believe in the freedom to vote.”

Last year the Arizona state legislature passed laws that hurt both workers and voters. Across the country, 400 bills were introduced to make it harder for people of color to vote. In response, UNITE HERE Local 11 and CASE Action went on a 10-day Freedom Ride from Arizona to Washington D.C to draw attention to the attacks on the freedom to vote across the country.

“The freedom that I have spent my life protecting is under attack,” said Marilyn Wilbur, CASE Action organizer and veteran of the US Air Force. “The Arizona legislature last year passed a law that will purge hundreds of thousands of mail voters from the Permanent Early Voter list, and another that will limit the time voters have to fix a signature on their ballot. Our state is part of a national trend to limit voting rights. That is why I joined the hunger strike for the freedom to vote.”

 

Ari Berrong-Huber, a UNITE HERE Local 11 member at Sky Harbor airport, also shared why he’s fighting for the freedom to vote. “Last August, I joined hundreds of other union members in a civil disobedience in DC. The freedom to vote is a sacred right. It is the way citizens can fight for better education, access to healthcare, and protections during the pandemic. Now I’m joining the hunger strike to call attention to the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. We can’t let loopholes and obstructionism stand in our way.”

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of laid off cooks, housekeepers, dishwashers, and bartenders knocked on a million doors to win Arizona for Biden, and delivered two U.S Senate seats in Georgia. Now, those same workers are forgoing food to protect our democracy. Hunger strikers plan to join the King family at Arizona Deliver for Voting Rights mobilization and Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Action on Saturday, January 15, 2022.

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CASE Action Fund is an economic justice organization dedicated to improving the lives of Arizona’s working families through policy advocacy and increasing participation in the political process.

UNITE HERE Local 11 Wins Historic First Union Contract at JW Marriott Le Merigot Santa Monica Hotel 

PRESS RELEASE: 01/05/2022

UNITE HERE Local 11 Wins Historic First Union Contract at JW Marriott Le Merigot Santa Monica Hotel
Amid Surging Pandemic Room attendants will earn $25 an hour and enjoy free family health insurance

Santa Monica, CA.: Ending one of the longest-running and highest profile labor disputes in Santa Monica history, UNITE HERE Local 11 and its members have reached a historic agreement with JW Marriott Le Merigot Santa Monica Hotel.

The agreement achieves our union scale among all other Unite Here Local 11 hotels in Santa Monica by June 2023. 

–          Minimum wages of $25 an hour by the expiration of the contract

–          Free excellent family health insurance

–          Defined Benefit Pension Plan enabling workers retire in dignity

–          Job security protections

“Hats off to Stockdale Capital for being a responsible employer and for embracing Santa Monica’s values of community and justice.  Thank you to the heroes of this struggle: the courageous room attendants who never lost faith, fought every day against a nefarious Columbia Sussex, and won an extraordinary union agreement,” said Kurt Petersen, Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11.

“This contract is life changing. This is the first time, after working for 10 years in the hotel industry, that I had a seat at the table to fight for the wages and benefits we deserved. None of these changes would have been possible without the union,” said Ismelda Reyes, laundry attendant who has worked for 10 years at Le Merigot Santa Monica Hotel.

The labor standards provided under UNITE HERE Local 11’s collective bargaining agreements far exceeds those provided by the few remaining non-union Santa Monica hotels, such as The Shore, Casa Del Mar and Shutters.

Background: Housekeeping employees at the hotel won a union election in 2016. Columbia Sussex, the then-owners and managers of the hotel, fought the unionization effort, leading to a contentious and bitter labor dispute that dragged on for more than five years.

During this period, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board found evidence to support more than 11 unfair labor practice charges against Columbia Sussex alleging violations of federal labor law. To settle these claims, hotel management agreed to pay over $35,000 in bonuses the company withheld from workers in 2016, rescind seven disciplines issued to employees, and offer reinstatement to a worker who was fired. In 2021, workers also won thousands of dollars through the settlement of claims filed against the company with the California Labor Commissioner.

Just in Time for Christmas, HMS Host Workers in Three Cities Ratify New Contracts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 24, 2021

Food workers at Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Orange County airports win significant raises and improved job security

Airport food workers with UNITE HERE Local 11 voted to ratify new contracts with HMS Host Thursday at Los Angeles International, Phoenix Sky Harbor International, and John Wayne Orange County airports.

All three two-year agreements lift workers at the bottom of the payscale to livable wages and establish stronger job security and anti-discrimination protections.

The ratification Thursday also averts a potential strike authorized this past Monday by American Airlines Admirals Club lounge workers employed by HMS Host at LAX.

“I love my job and what I do, but the money I’ve been making hasn’t been enough to live on,” said Evelyn Torres, an LAX lounge attendant. “I voted yes to go on strike if we had to, and I’m so proud that now we have a new agreement and we’re getting the raises we actually deserve.”

Workers in Phoenix won an agreement that dramatically improves health insurance cost-sharing for employees—a critical point for many who were on strike for 10 days during the peak of Thanksgiving travel last month.

“The health insurance alone will be life-changing for me and my family,” said Lucia Salinas, a cook at Cowboy Ciao at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. “After fighting for a contract for about four years, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief that we have what we need and deserve.”

“The pandemic, being unemployed, years of going without—it’s been hard. But we’ve kept fighting to get through it. Knowing what we’ve won shows that it was all worth it,” said Reyna Gonzalez, a cook for HMS Host at John Wayne Airport in Orange County.

HMS Host is the single largest concessionaire at LAX, Sky Harbor, and John Wayne airports—employing nearly 1300 workers at dozens of restaurants and all on-airport Starbucks stores. HMS Host workers also staff the American Airlines Admirals Club and American Eagle lounges at LAX.

Travel Alert: HMS Host workers vote 98% to strike 

MEDIA ADVISORY: December 22, 2021
CONTACT: Maria Hernandez | [email protected] | 623-340-8047

LAX Travel Alert: HMS Host workers vote 98% to strike

Hundreds of airport food workers to stage day-long protest Wednesday

WHAT: All-day worker protest at LAX Terminal 4
WHO: Hundreds of airport concessions workers & members of UNITE HERE Local 11
WHERE: LAX Terminal 4, upper level (departures)
WHEN: Wednesday, December 22, 2021. Workers will picket constantly 9 AM–4 PM.
VISUALS: Uniformed concessions workers marching, chanting, and drumming at LAX Terminal 4 wearing festive holiday accessories, red t-shirts, and signs that say “Raise LAX.”
Follow the hashtag #LAXStrike and @UNITEHERE11 on Twitter 

WHY: Ahead of the holiday travel rush, airport food workers with half a dozen airport concessions companies from every LAX terminal plan to demonstrate at Terminal 4 all day Wednesday to protest a labor dispute with airport concessions giant HMS Host. 

On Monday, American Airlines Admirals Lounge workers employed by HMS Host voted 98% to authorize a strike and may announce a walkout any day. 

HMS Host workers accuse the company of dragging out their labor dispute, resulting in many long-term workers going without a raise, except for those required by the airport minimum wage law, for more than three years. 

HMS Host workers at LAX are members of UNITE HERE Local 11, whose members at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport were on strike for 10 days during the height of last month’s Thanksgiving travel. 

HMS Host is the single largest concessionaire at LAX, employing nearly 700 workers at dozens of restaurants in most LAX terminals and all on-airport Starbucks stores. HMS Host workers also staff the American Airlines Admirals Club and American Eagle lounges in Terminal 4 and Terminal 5.

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UNITE HERE Local 11 is a labor union representing over 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona who work in hotels, restaurants, universities, convention centers, and airports.

UNITE HERE Local 11 Backs Christy Holstege For State Assembly

UNITE HERE LOCAL 11 BACKS CHRISTY HOLSTEGE FOR STATE ASSEMBLY

Palm Springs Outgoing Mayor Endorsed by UNITE HERE Local 11 in Assembly District 42 Contest

PALM SPRINGS, CA – In a powerful indication of her support from working families in the race for Assembly District 42, today outgoing Palm Springs Outgoing Mayor Christy Holstege secured the endorsement of UNITE HERE Local 11.

UNITE HERE Local 11 represents over 32,000 hospitality workers employed in hotels, casinos, restaurants, airports, sports arenas, and convention centers throughout Southern California.

The hospitality workers’ union has a long history of organizing in the Coachella Valley, and is the hospitality local for Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.  In 2004, UNITE HERE leader Ada Briceño, who is today Co-President of Local 11, was arrested alongside United Farm Workers hero Dolores Huerta in an act of civil disobedience at a protest in downtown Palm Springs highlighting the working conditions of casino workers.

“At this crucial moment for labor, it’s critical that we have more leaders in Sacramento who have a record of delivering for working people,” said Briceño.  “That’s why UNITE HERE Local 11 is thrilled to support Christy Holstege for Assembly District 42. With her impressive record of uplifting workers’ rights as a civil rights attorney and on the Palm Springs City Council, we are confident that Christy will deliver good middle-class jobs and a fair economy for all in the State Legislature.”

​​Holstege also released the following statement reflecting on the influential endorsement:

“I’m deeply honored to have the support of the working families that make up UNITE HERE Local 11. They give a voice to the many voiceless working people in our communities fighting for better treatment and higher wages. As a civil rights attorney and local elected official who has fought to defend worker rights throughout my career, I am profoundly grateful for their support of my campaign for Assembly and look forward to working with UNITE HERE Local 11 to uplift working families in Sacramento.”

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UNITE HERE Local 11 is a labor union representing over 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona who work in hotels, restaurants, universities, convention centers, and airports.