PRESS RELEASES Archives - Page 2 of 16

Sheraton Park Anaheim employee Margarita Virrueta de Garibay poses in front of a purple fist painted to honor International Women's Day

PRESS RELEASE: Aimbridge Hospitality Slammed With Sexual Harassment Complaints

March 8, 2024

Workers file state complaints, gather to protest company’s alleged failure to prevent harassment

Anaheim, Calif.: Three women workers from the Aimbridge Hospitality-operated Sheraton Park Anaheim each submitted complaints to the California Civil Rights Department today, alleging that their employer failed to respond properly to their complaints of repeated sexual harassment. The complaints come on the heels of hotel workers calling for a boycott of Aimbridge Hospitality, dubbed “Shamebridge.”

Worker Jenny Hong alleged in her letter that for almost six months, she faced nearly daily sexual harassment from a coworker who made unwanted comments on her appearance, physically grabbed her, and caused her intense anxiety at work. Worker Margarita Virrueta de Garibay separately alleged that the same coworker subjected her to sexually suggestive comments and unsolicited “massages.” Hong and a third woman reported the coworker’s conduct to the hotel’s human resources department, but both women allege that the company has done little to protect them from ongoing harassment.

“I am choosing to break my silence now because no woman should experience abuse in the workplace.” says Virrueta de Garibay. “I want to ensure that future generations of women, everywhere, feel safe and comfortable where they work.

Two weeks ago, another woman worker at an Aimbridge-operated hotel complained that she was fired from the Hampton Inn Santa Monica after reporting near-daily harassment. Maritza Villeda also submitted a letter to the Civil Rights Department in which she reported that a coworker verbally threatened her repeatedly, including aggressively calling her a “fucking bitch.” Villeda alleged that after she complained to hotel management at least five times over several weeks, the hotel failed to respond appropriately to her complaints and instead retaliated against her by terminating her.

“It is shameful that these hotel workers brought their complaints to management and were reportedly met with indifference,” said Kurt Petersen, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11. “Aimbridge Hospitality continues to show how little it cares for its employees.”

At yet a third hotel, the San Pedro Doubletree, which was operated by Aimbridge until it was replaced earlier this year, workers have filed a pending class action lawsuit against an Aimbridge subsidiary alleging violations of the panic button and other worker safety provisions of the Los Angeles Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance. A primary purpose of this ordinance is to help protect workers from sexual assault in the workplace.

These charges of disregard for worker safety suggest an ongoing pattern of Aimbridge’s failure to protect its workers. The California Labor Commissioner and Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón are currently investigating allegations of the exploitation of unhoused migrant workers at other Aimbridge properties in Southern California. Two additional Aimbridge-operated hotels face pending federal unfair labor practice allegations that managers unlawfully interfered with the rights of employees to engage in union or other protected activity.

The submission of these complaints takes place days before the Natural Products Expo West descends on Anaheim. Hotel workers have told event organizers to anticipate picketing and disruptions as they continue to fight for safe working conditions. Aimbridge Hospitality, the third-largest hotel operator in the world, operates a dozen hotels in Orange County.

PRESS RELEASE: Boycott of Hotel Figueroa and Restaurant Operator, The Botanical Group, Declared Following Firings, Shootings, and Unsettled Labor Dispute; Letter Signed by Hundreds Delivered

March 7, 2024

LOS ANGELES: UNITE HERE Local 11 and dozens of workers and clergy leaders from CLUE held a press conference calling for a boycott of the Hotel Figueroa and The Botanical Group, which is the newest restaurant operator, on Thursday. The worker-called boycott marks a significant escalation in a months-long labor dispute that began last July.

“I’m calling for a boycott of the hotel because our jobs are very difficult, and the company’s response to our strike and their failure to sign a fair contract has shown that they don’t value or respect us,” said Noelia Gonzales, room attendant at the Figueroa Hotel.

The hotel’s workers, who have been protesting and striking for wages enabling them to afford to live in Los Angeles amid soaring housing costs, have faced violence on the picket line. During a strike in January, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, workers were fired upon by a sniper, apparently using an air rifle, with large metal ball bearings. They have taken to wearing bullet proof vests and helmets on the picket lines. The unknown assailant remains at large.

“I was shot twice with metal ball bearings from across the street while on strike with my coworkers. I was hit on my neck and feet. We do not deserve to risk our safety simply because we are advocating for ourselves. I want there to be justice, and for the violence that we endured to not go unnoticed, that is why we are calling for a boycott,” said Felix Vanegas, houseman at the Figueroa Hotel.

Making matters even worse, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, more than one hundred food and beverage workers were fired in February by the hotel’s former food and beverage operator after workers began an effort to unionize. After a brief closure, a new operator reopened the Cafe Fig and other outlets, but without the workers who had staffed the restaurant for years. UNITE HERE Local 11 has requested that the Office of Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto investigate potential violations of Los Angeles’s Hotel Worker Retention Ordinance.

Workers and community allies delivered a letter signed by nearly 500 people demanding that the hotel bring back the “Figueroa 100.” Workers are calling for tourists and visitors to choose alternatives for any travel and events until all of the workers have won the dignity and respect they deserve and the fired restaurant workers are returned to work.

“We denounce the violence picketing workers have endured with metal ball pellets shot at them while on strike and we demand the hotel bring back the Figueroa 100. Why should workers have to be out in the street subjecting themselves to this kind of violence-literally picketing in bulletproof vests, helmets, and goggles? It should not take this kind of bravery to simply get a company to pay wages that workers can live on. You cannot treat people like this,” said Ada Briceño, co-president UNITE HERE Local 11.

Joining the workers was Reverend Edgar Colon of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, “CLUE will join the boycott of this establishment, and will neither eat, meet, sleep or gather here until the issues that the workers have laid out have been resolved.

PRESS RELEASE: Women Leaders Rise Up in Support of SaMo Hotel Worker Filing Sexual Harassment Complaint Against Aimbridge-Operated Property

February 23, 2024

Santa Monica, Calif.: Days before the Film Independent Spirit Awards take place in Santa Monica, prominent women leaders from CLUE, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Program for Torture Victims joined silence breakers to rally and picket outside the Hampton Inn Santa Monica. They expressed support for hotel worker Maritza Villeda, who submitted a complaint to the California Civil Rights Department alleging that her employer, the Aimbridge Hospitality-operated Hampton Inn Santa Monica, failed to respond properly to her complaints of sexual harassment by a coworker and instead terminated her.

In a letter to the California Civil Rights Department, long-time Aimbridge employee Villeda alleged that a valet employee repeatedly verbally threatened her at work, including by aggressively calling her a “fucking bitch.” In her letter, Villeda alleges that the verbal threats and sexist slurs continued on a near-daily basis for over six weeks, even though she reported the behavior to the general manager on multiple occasions. She alleges that the hotel failed to respond appropriately to her complaints of harassment, and that instead, the hotel retaliated against her by terminating her.

Hotel workers have a long history of fighting for protections against assault in Santa Monica, and fought in 2018 to pass laws that then expanded across to multiple cities.

Workers at the Hampton Inn Santa Monica are part of dozens of other hotel workers who have been fighting for a fair contract since July 2023. There is currently a boycott of Aimbridge Hospitality.

“Women’s rights are civil rights and we must protect them! SLCL is proud to stand with Maritza and her coworkers,” said Reverend Thembekila Smart of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern California.

BREAKING NEWS: Five Hotels – Sofitel, 2 Hyatts in Long Beach, Hyatt Andaz, Hyatt Shay – Sign Tentative Agreements with UNITE HERE Local 11, Raising Total to 34 Hotels

February 9, 2024

Los Angeles, CA: Hundreds of workers – including those at the Sofitel, Hyatt Shay in Culver City, Hyatt Regency Long Beach, Hyatt Centric The Pike Long Beach, and Hyatt Andaz in West Hollywood – are the latest to win tentative agreements in the largest hotel strike in U.S. history. Workers have struck more than 130 times since contracts expired last July.

Once the contract is ratified, the workers will enjoy the same extraordinary standard achieved in the previous tentative agreements, including:

Unprecedented wage increases that keep pace with the soaring cost of housing
Affordable, excellent family healthcare
Humane workloads and safe staffing
Improved pension increases so that workers can retire with dignity
Language improvements, including Equal Justice language that, among other things, will help to provide access to union jobs for formerly incarcerated individuals and unprecedented protections for immigrant workers

Thirty-four hotels have reached tentative agreements with UNITE HERE Local 11. Private-equity owned Aimbridge Hospitality (Hyatt Regency LAX, Holiday Inn LAX, Doubletree DTLA, Hampton Inn Santa Monica, Courtyard Santa Monica, Sheraton Park Anaheim) continues to resist their workers’ demands. Workers have called a boycott – Shamebridge – which has resulted in Aimbridge losing operating contracts at two LA hotels.

“My coworkers and I stuck together until we won what we deserved. We will keep fighting alongside our sisters and brothers at the Hotel Maya, Hyatt Regency LAX and others until they win too!” said Morena Hernandez, housekeeper at the Hyatt Andaz in West Hollywood.

“We applaud Hyatt and Sofitel for recognizing that their workers are essential to their success,” said Kurt Petersen, Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11. “Our members have never once faltered in this fight to win a wage that allows them to live near where they work. They have overcome intimidation, violence, and nothing will stop them until all hotels – including those run by private equity behemoths – sign this agreement.”

PRE-GRAMMY PARTY: Rat Allegations Soil Influencer Favorite W Hollywood Hotel

February 2, 2024

Los Angeles–Dozens of cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, servers, bellmen, and front desk agents from across the LA area will stage an action outside of the Sky Terrace at W Hollywood. Workers and supporters will wear rat costumes and related props while the restaurant’s soft launch takes place.

The action will draw attention to workers’ allegations, as reported in the LA Times last December, that they have repeatedly observed what appeared to be rats in the dry food storage room of the Hotel’s basement and on the building’s rooftop Sky Terrace restaurant, both operated by Mosaic. Workers documented alleged rodent sightings as recently as mid-October of 2023. Concerned for their health and safety, workers submitted a complaint to Cal/OSHA on November 16, 2023 and requested that their employer take action. The complaint with Cal/OSHA remains pending investigation.

The Sky Terrace is located on the rooftop of the W Hotel building. Both the W Hollywood Hotel, operated by Marriott, and Sky Terrace, operated by Mosaic, have been embroiled in protracted labor disputes with their employees since union contract expired last summer. The Sky Terrace is also the subject of pending unfair labor practice charges filed by workers after the restaurant fired eight employees who had participated in the campaign for improved wages and working conditions.

Workers across Los Angeles hotels have been in an ongoing labor dispute with hotel employers since July, fighting for better wages and working conditions in what has become the largest hotel worker strike in modern history. The workers’ primary contract goals include wage increases to keep pace with the soaring cost of housing in Los Angeles, quality and affordable health insurance, a pension to retire with dignity, and humane workloads.

The W Hollywood building is owned by private equity firms Oaktree Capital Management and Trinity Investments. Los Angeles-based Oaktree, which has $189 billion under management, states on its website that “Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) considerations directly and materially impact investment outcomes,” but has failed to resolve the escalating labor disputes at the W Hollywood and Sky Terrace.

PRESS RELEASE: With New Hotel License Requirement Looming, UNITE HERE Local 11 Raises Alleged Worker Rights Violations at Carpenters Union Fund-Owned Hyatt Regency LAX with LA Police Commission

February 1, 2024

Los Angeles: The Carpenters pension fund-owned Hyatt Regency LAX may be at risk of being unable to obtain an operating license required by the Los Angeles Responsible Hotels Ordinance. The hospitality workers’ union, UNITE HERE Local 11, has sent a letter to the Los Angeles Police Commission to inform it of allegations of worker rights violations at the Hyatt Regency LAX, which is owned by the Southwest Carpenters Pension Fund.

The Hyatt Regency LAX is owned by the Southwest Carpenters Pension Fund, and the trustees of this pension fund include leaders of the Carpenters Union. The hotel is operated by Aimbridge Hospitality. The occupy action comes on the heels of UNITE HERE Local 11’s call for a boycott of Aimbridge Hospitality properties in Southern California, which includes the Hyatt Regency LAX, among others, known as “Shamebridge”.

The Police Commission is responsible for considering license applications from hotel operators under the Ordinance’s new hotel permitting scheme. Permits may be denied based on findings of violations of worker rights.

Housekeeping workers at the Hyatt Regency LAX have alleged that the Hotel is not in compliance with the Los Angeles Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance, which is among the “local employment laws” that employers must comply with in order to obtain an operating permit under the new licensing regime. In particular, workers have alleged that the Hotel is not complying with the workload provisions of the Ordinance, which ensure fair pay for burdensome workloads. Room attendants report that, with room quotas of 14 rooms a day, they believe they regularly clean more than 3,500 square feet per shift but are not paid the double pay the Ordinance requires of hotels that assign such heavy workloads.

The letters asked the Board of Police Commissioners to consider the alleged noncompliance with the Ordinance and to monitor any potential investigations or claims into consideration in evaluating the permit applications of the hotel.

Workers across Los Angeles hotels have been in an ongoing labor dispute with hotel employers since July, and while numerous tentative contract agreements have been reached across Los Angeles and Orange County since November, Hyatt Regency LAX and Aimbridge Hospitality have consistently refused to meet the new hotel contract standards.

The workers’ primary contract goals include wage increases to keep pace with the soaring cost of housing in Los Angeles, quality and affordable health insurance, a pension to retire with dignity, and humane workloads. Workers are demanding that Aimbridge and the Hyatt-operated properties sign the standard-setting agreement, which 30 other hotels across the region have agreed to.

PRESS RELEASE: As UNITE HERE Local 11 Launches “Shamebridge” Boycott, Aimbridge Hospitality Loses Second Operating Agreement at LA Hotel

January 30, 2024

DoubleTree San Pedro follows Le Merigot’s lead and parts ways with Aimbridge

Los Angeles: On the first day of the American Lodging and Investment Summit, UNITE HERE Local 11 members announced a boycott of Aimbridge Hospitality, the largest third-party hotel operator in the world, until the company agrees to sign a fair contract at its union properties in Southern California.

During the same week, on January 25, the Union received notification from the ownership of the DoubleTree property in San Pedro that effective February 19, Remington Hospitality would become the operator at the hotel. This follows Aimbridge’s loss of an operator role at another major hotel in the area–the Le Merigot Santa Monica–last August.

Dubbed “Shamebridge” by its employees, Aimbridge has been embroiled in controversy since the beginning of the Southern California hotel strike. Among other developments, last October, housekeepers at the San Pedro DoubleTree – the same hotel that has just terminated its agreement with Aimbridge – filed a class-action lawsuit against a subsidiary of the operator alleging violations of panic buttons and other worker safety provisions of the Los Angeles Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance.

Aimbridge’s business model and practices have also drawn critical attention. Following private equity firm Advent International’s 2019 acquisition of Aimbridge, industry analysts and credit ratings agencies have expressed concerns about C-suite turnover, overly-aggressive growth and credit. In November 2023, Baron Ah Moo, U.S. managing director for PKF Hospitality Group suggested, “There is pressure on the third-party management fee model from all sides (brands, competition in the space, and the market economy) and Aimbridge, with an eye on a liquidity event (public sale/IPO), may have overextended itself to spur that aggressive growth.” Hotel Investment Today further reported that “[t]here have also been rumblings about weaker performance at Aimbridge as it focused on growth, as well as owners looking for smaller, third-party firms to get more individual attention from their operator. With rumors like that swirling, change is not an unexpected outcome.”

“Shamebridge”: Hotel Workers Launch Boycott of Aimbridge Hospitality

January 22, 2024

UNITE HERE Local 11 members announced a boycott of Aimbridge Hospitality, the largest third-party hotel operator in the world, until the company agrees to sign a fair contract at all of its union properties. The boycott calls for tourists and visitors to choose alternatives for any travel and events at the following properties:

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Los Angeles Downtown
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel San Pedro – Port of Los Angeles
Courtyard by Marriott Santa Monica
Hampton Inn & Suites Santa Monica
Hilton Pasadena
Hyatt Regency LAX
Holiday Inn Los Angeles – LAX Airport
Sheraton Park Hotel Anaheim
Blackstone-owned Aloft El Segundo
Blackstone-owned Fairfield El Segundo

In addition to launching the “Shamebridge” boycott, workers at Aimbridge-operated hotels will also hold actions at the Doubletree DTLA on Monday, plan to strike at the Sheraton Park in Anaheim during the National Association of Music Merchants conference, and do “occupy” actions next week unless agreements are reached.

The boycott and escalated actions at Aimbridge-operated hotels follow 29 tentative contract agreements reached across Los Angeles and Orange County between hotels and their workers. Aimbridge Hospitality has failed to meet the hotel contract standard, leading to what has become protracted labor disputes at the listed properties.

“Aimbridge Hospitality has not only refused to listen to its workers, but it has met them with contempt and greed,” said Kurt Petersen, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11. “By boycotting Aimbridge properties, travelers and tourists to Southern California have an opportunity to stand against corporate injustice and support workers who are fighting for a dignified way of life.”

Maria Gurola, a cook at the Doubletree San Pedro, expressed indignation with Aimbridge’s failure to sign a new contract. “I’ve worked at the Doubletree San Pedro for 11 years, and I still struggle to pay my bills. We need Aimbridge to show us the respect we deserve and agree to a contract that lets us live in the city we work in.”

Also, as local hotels prepare to host thousands of guests for the annual NAMM show at the Anaheim Convention Center, workers at the Aimbridge-operated Sheraton Park Hotel in Anaheim are prepared to strike if the hotel does not sign a tentative agreement by the time the conference begins on January 25.

“We’ve been fighting for a contract since July,” says housekeeper Maria Luisa Posada, who has worked at the Sheraton Park Anaheim for over 40 years. “With the NAMM show coming, Aimbridge leaves us with no choice but to go out on strike.”

Aimbridge has been embroiled in controversy since the beginning of the Southern California hotel strike. Among other developments, last October, housekeepers at the San Pedro DoubleTree filed a class-action lawsuit against a subsidiary of the operator, alleging violations of panic buttons and other worker safety provisions of the Los Angeles Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance.

The union has also filed federal unfair labor practice charges against Aimbridge at two hotel properties alleging that managers unlawfully interfered with the rights of employees to engage in union or other protected activity. The charges are pending investigation by the National Labor Relations Board. Meanwhile, the California Labor Commissioner and Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon are investigating allegations of the exploitation of unhoused migrant workers at Aimbridge properties.

Fairmont Miramar Reaches Historic Union Agreement; Strikes Continue at other Santa Monica Hotels

January 8, 2024

Santa Monica: After six months of strikes and picket lines, the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows is the latest hotel to sign a tentative agreement with UNITE HERE Local 11.

With this latest announcement, a total of 25 Southern California hotels have now signed tentative agreements with the union.

“We’re excited and proud to have reached an agreement at our hotel,” says Fairmont Miramar worker Liliana Hernandez, who has been a housekeeper at the hotel for eleven years. “The last six months were challenging for us, but I am so grateful that the whole union stood behind me and my coworkers, and I’m proud of the leadership and solidarity. We hope other Santa Monica hotels follow the example of the Fairmont. Sí se puede.”

Once the contract is ratified, Fairmont Miramar workers will enjoy the standard achieved in the previous tentative agreements, including:

Unprecedented wage increases that keep pace with the soaring cost of housing
Affordable, excellent family healthcare
Humane workloads and safe staffing
Improved pension increases so that workers can retire with dignity
Language improvements, including Equal Justice language that, among other things, will help to provide access to union jobs for formerly incarcerated individuals and unprecedented protections for immigrant workers.

“We applaud the Fairmont Miramar for signing this historic agreement,” said UNITE HERE Local 11 co-president, Kurt Petersen. “This victory once again demonstrates our members’ indomitable spirit and sends an unambiguous message to the remaining hotels that we will not stop fighting until we have won a living wage at all hotels.”

Other hotels operated by Aimbridge Hospitality, such as the Hilton Pasadena, Blackstone-owned Aloft and Fairfield El Segundo, and Ensemble-operated Hotel Maya and Hyatt Place Pasadena, continue to refuse to meet the new hotel contract standard. Dozens of workers at the Hilton Pasadena and Hyatt Place Pasadena walked out on the eve of the Rose Parade.

4 More! InterContinental DTLA, Hotel Indigo DTLA, Sheraton Gateway, E Central Sign Historic Agreements with UNITE HERE Local 11

December 22, 2023

Next strike wave targets Rose Bowl as pressure builds for Aimbridge Hospitality-operated hotels and Ensemble-operated Hotel Maya

Los Angeles: On the heels of last week’s streak of 9 Marriotts and 1 more Hilton hotel agreeing to a standard setting contract, the InterContinental Downtown Los Angeles, Hotel Indigo DTLA, E-Central DTLA and the Sheraton Gateway LAX are now the latest to sign tentative agreements with UNITE HERE Local 11.

With this latest announcement, a total of 24 Southern California hotels have now signed agreements with UNITE HERE Local 11.

Diana Sanchez, housekeeping supervisor at the InterContinental Downtown Los Angeles, said, “We had a party in the cafeteria this morning. We are stronger today than when we first went out on strike. But we also know that this fight is not over until all hotel workers win this historic agreement.”

Once the contract is ratified, the workers at the properties will enjoy the standard achieved in the previous tentative agreements, including:

Unprecedented wage increases that keep pace with the soaring cost of housing
Affordable, excellent family healthcare
Humane workloads and safe staffing
Improved pension increases so that workers can retire with dignity
Language improvements, including Equal Justice language that, among other things, will help to provide access to union jobs for formerly incarcerated individuals and unprecedented protections for immigrant workers.

“We applaud the 24 hotels that have reached settlements. But we are disgusted with greedy private equity hotel owners like Aimbridge and Blackstone that are focused on profits rather than the welfare of their workers and the reputation of our city,”said Kurt Petersen, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11. “If they want to prolong this dispute, we have no choice but to strike during the Rose Bowl festivities.”

Other hotels operated by Aimbridge Hospitality like Hilton Pasadena, and Ensemble-operated Hotel Maya and Hyatt Place Pasadena continue to refuse to meet the new hotel contract standard. Pasadena is home to the Rose Bowl and Rose Parade, which take place on January 1, 2024. The escalating labor dispute will impact guests during these events if an agreement is not reached before then.