LETICIA CEBALLOS
Leticia has two jobs and lives two hours away from her workplace to be able to achieve her dream of home ownership. She has to sleep in her car between jobs and can only see her family on weekends. That’s why she’s on strike.
THE SECOND WAVE OF STRIKES
“Thousands of workers at 33 hotels from Downtown Los Angeles to LAX to Orange County have participated in the largest hotel worker strike in California history,” said Kurt Petersen, Co-President UNITE HERE Local 11. “Our city has reached a tipping point. The wealthy continue to live in luxury while workers, from actors and writers to room attendants and servers, live from one paycheck to the next. This fight is ultimately about whether those who make LA prosperous and beautiful will be able to afford to live in LA.”
YESENIA REYES
I feel more empowered now than ever to continue fighting for a good contract. As a single mom, I rarely get to see my six kids because I work two full time jobs to pay my $2,000 rent and keep up with other expenses.
ROSA PAZ
Since reopening after the pandemic, hotels began to eliminate daily room cleaning. Our workloads have become brutal and take an even bigger toll on us. We went on strike because we work really hard and deserve better. Through the strike workers from all the hotels are more united than ever. We are ready for anything, inside, outside, at the negotiating table, and won’t settle for less than we deserve.”
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