MARTA ESQUIVEL
The companies have taken advantage of the pandemic to get richer, while we struggle to stay housed. I am fighting for that change, and that’s why I am on strike!
SOCAL STRIKE: INDEPENDENCE DAY
On the eve of the Fourth of July, while hotel CEOs were toasting record profits at their vacation homes in the Hamptons, in a show of incomparable strength, thousands of cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, servers, bellmen, and front desk agents walked out in the largest hotel strike in Southern California history.
TODAY SHOW: LOS ANGELES HOTEL WORKERS ON STRIKE
Thousands of hotel workers in California have gone on strike. Union leaders are asking for higher wages, better health care benefits and stronger workplace protections. pic.twitter.com/SfUQCLJGW0
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 3, 2023
JENNIFER FLORES
Jennifer is a front desk supervisor at the InterContinental Los Angeles. Her mother has been a hotel housekeeper for over fifteen years. Jennifer she grew up going to union protests and marches. Now it’s her turn to take a stand!
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
Nearly 200 people, including workers, union leaders, elected politicians, and community allies, engaged in an act of mass nonviolent civil disobedience, following an overwhelming strike authorization vote June on 8. Hundreds more room attendants, cooks, dishwashers, and community allies took to the streets to call for the wages required to afford housing in Los Angeles.
96% VOTED TO AUTHORIZE A STRIKE
The strike authorization vote comes after more than a month of failed negotiations with our hotel employers. Our key demands are an immediate $5 an hour wage increase to keep pace with the soaring cost of housing; affordable family healthcare; a pension that will enable workers to retire with security; and safe and humane workloads.