FIGHTING FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Local 11 members advocate to protect our neighborhoods from the short-term rental industry. As corporate investors convert more housing to hotels, we suffer the longer commutes, housing shortages, and even homelessness that can increase as a result. We support policies that keep home sharing to a host’s primary address, protect rent-stabilized housing, and help cities across the region meet the needs of residents ahead of tourists and party planners.
WEHO TIMES: UNITE HERE Local 11 Endorses Byers, Krieger, Post, and Cottrell for West Hollywood City Council – Reject Block and Duran
“Councilmember Chelsea Byers made affordability a centerpiece of her term on Council and has Mayor,” reads a statement from UNITE HERE Local 11. “She is a strong supporter of renter protections and is a proponent of West Hollywood’s nationally celebrated minimum wage law. She has the endorsement of the both the California Working Families Party and the Los Angeles County Democratic Party.”
Local 11 joined the California Working Families Party in endorsing Helen Krieger and Stephen Post for City Council. Local 11 also joined with the Los Angeles County Democratic Party in endorsing Jonathan Cottrell. Krieger also won the support of the LA County Democratic Party. “The UNITE HERE, WFP, and LACDP endorsements make clear that these four candidates are the progressive choices for West Hollywood City Council,” the Union said.
Local 11 Endorses Nithya Raman for Mayor of Los Angeles
“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.
Distributed by UNITE HERE Local 11. 464 Lucas Ave., #201, Los Angeles, CA 90017. Not authorized by or coordinated with a City candidate or committee controlled by a candidate. Additional information is available at ethics.lacity.org.
TORCHED: Hot labor summer games
A better pre-Labor Day press conference couldn’t have been scripted. On Tuesday, Unite Here Local 11, one of the most powerful unions in the city, endorsed Nithya Raman for mayor. “Our members know how to fight,” said Unite Here co-president Kurt Petersen, as he stood on a Koreatown corner. “And when you’re in a fight, you remember who showed up. Nithya Raman showed up.”
Workers and clergy speak out against Airbnb
Dozens of workers, clergy and faith leaders gathered in a powerful and moral speak-out at City Hall and testified at public comment during the LA’s Planning & Land Use Management Committee where Airbnb is attempting to roll back short-term rental regulations in LA.
Faith leaders called on Mayor Bass to protect housing and our communities’ most vulnerable unhoused neighbors.
LOCAL 11 GOES TO THE CA DEMOCRATIC PARTY CONVENTION
A NEW DEAL FOR OUR FUTURE
Over the next three years, Los Angeles will become the first city to host the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic & Paralympic Games back-to-back, making it the mega-events capital of the world. We are demanding that these mega-events serve our communities and leave a positive legacy. We are calling on LA28 and corporations to negotiate a New Deal for Our Future—or face the possibility of massive protests and strikes on the opening day of the 2028 Olympics.
LA TIMES: The fliers say ‘Save Our Services.’ Airbnb is actually pulling the strings
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: LA City Council Moves Forward on Historic Ordinance to Prioritize Housing Over Luxury Hotel Development
Los Angeles – LA City Council moved forward this morning on a revised version of the Responsible Hotel Initiative. Previously proposed by President Paul Krekorian on November 1, this ordinance will codify the core goals of the original initiative put forward by Unite Here: protecting the housing stock in Los Angeles.
“We have said all along that our contract campaign has been about two things: housing for our members where they work and a living wage,” said Co-President Kurt Petersen of UNITE HERE Local 11. “With this ordinance, we
have done more to protect housing than any single contract demand would have done. The fight for a living wage continues.”
Los Angeles is experiencing a dramatic increase in hotel development, ranking second in the nation in the number of new hotel rooms in its pipeline, with more than 100 hotels under construction or in planning stages. Among other pro-housing provisions, the law would require developers of new hotels that displace housing to replace that housing on a one-for-one basis.
UNITE HERE Local 11 has until December 1 to withdraw the original language of the ordinance. The new ordinance would come before Council for a vote in early December.
LA City Council President Krekorian Directs City Staff to Draft Historic Ordinance to Prioritize Housing Over Luxury Hotel Development
Would replace Responsible Hotel Ordinance set to be on March 2024 ballot
Los Angeles – Council President Paul Krekorian this morning proposed a revised version of the Responsible Hotel Initiative that would codify the core goals of the original initiative: protecting the housing stock in Los Angeles.
“The shortage of affordable housing in Los Angeles doesn’t just drive the crisis of homelessness in our streets,” said Council President Krekorian. “It hurts everyone who’s looking for a home in Los Angeles. The hospitality industry is a vital and necessary component of our local economy, and we need hotels to welcome the thousands of visitors we receive, but new hotel construction cannot come at the cost of our current housing stock. Irresponsible hotel and short-term rental operators cannot be allowed to endanger the public safety or impair the quality of life in our neighborhoods.”
“I’m happy to see both the hotel industry and their employees’ union putting the interests of the entire city first in supporting this ordinance,” said Council President Krekorian. “I hope to see this spirit of cooperation continue in the current negotiations among all the players in this essential industry.”
The ordinance would:
“We have said all along that our contract campaign has been about two things: housing for our members where they work and a living wage,” said Co-President Kurt Petersen of UNITE HERE Local 11. “With this ordinance, we have done more to protect housing than any single contract demand would have done. The fight for a living wage continues.”
Los Angeles is experiencing a dramatic increase in hotel development, ranking second in the nation in the number of new hotel rooms in its pipeline, with more than 100 hotels under construction or in planning stages. The ordinance will ensure developers cannot destroy housing to build hotels. Over the last several years, UNITE HERE Local 11 has worked with local housing groups and identified multiple hotel projects that would result in the loss of housing, such as one downtown development that would turn 57 apartments into 172 hotel rooms and another project that converted 97 apartments into hotel rooms. Among other pro-housing provisions, the new law would require new hotels that displace housing to replace that housing on a one-for-one basis.
“I would like to commend Council President Paul Krekorian for his leadership on this issue,” said Petersen.
“Even though there are five of us in my household, and almost all of us work, I can’t afford to live closer than Apple Valley,” said Brenda Mendoza, a 15-year uniform attendant at the JW Marriott at LA Live. “I can barely sleep more than two to three hours a night. That’s why I’m excited to see the City step in and help us get this responsible hotel ordinance passed into law.”
After today’s council meeting, the city staff will work to finalize revised language that the city council would vote on November 8. UNITE HERE Local 11 has until December 1 to withdraw the original language of the ordinance. The new ordinance would come before Council for a vote in early December.
LA City Councilmembers Unveil Plan to Protect Housing by Enforcing Home-Sharing Ordinance
Six councilmembers commit to vote NO on vacation rental loophole
Los Angeles, CA: In a show of unity and commitment, five Los Angeles city councilmembers Bob Blumenfield, Mike Bonin, Paul Koretz, Nithya Raman, and Monica Rodriguez held a press conference to unveil steps to protect housing for thousands of Angelenos by stronger enforcement of the city’s Home-sharing ordinance.
In an effort to further enforce the city’s strong home-sharing ordinance, Councilmembers Blumenfield, Koretz, and Raman, all filed separate motions with City Planning and Land Use Management recently.
“The City’s home sharing program has pulled thousands of much-needed housing units off the market, adding to our already disastrous homeless problem and has been beset by non-compliance, criminal activity and the destruction of once quiet single-family neighborhoods” said Los Angeles Councilmember Paul Koretz of the Fifth District. “If we’re going to take home sharing and its many challenges seriously, we need to provide the Planning Department with the resources necessary to effectively enforce the ordinance, and this needs to be done before we start digging a deeper hole with a vacation rentals program. We currently require primary residency for a reason. What possible excuse is there for this change?”
“If the City is struggling to enforce the home-sharing ordinance we already have on the books, what makes us think we’re ready to put in place a new vacation rental ordinance that, even when properly enforced, would allow almost 15,000 additional units to be taken off the rental market and turned into Airbnbs,” said Councilmember Raman. “I pledge to vote NO on the Vacation Rental Loophole currently being considered.”
“The adopted short term rental ordinance was explicitly written to limit participation to primary residences in order to protect our critical housing stock. We cannot reopen that loophole in the midst of a housing crisis. Housing needs to be protected for those who live and work in Los Angeles,” said Councilwoman Rodriguez
The City estimated from 2017 that between 6,000 and 10,000 housing units had been removed from the traditional rental market and converted by their owners to short-term rentals.
“We need to protect our housing stock and ensure that we’re maximizing the amount of units available for Angelenos; it’s imperative that we don’t allow ‘vacation rentals’ to become a loophole that decimates the protections in the short term rental legalization policy we adopted a few short years ago.” said Councilmember Bob Blumenfield. “Right now, there are thousands of illegal short-term rentals available on various platforms throughout the city. We must strengthen enforcement and reject adding loopholes that will lead to more expensive housing.”
Councilmember Bonin was one of the main sponsors of the original home-sharing ordinance passed in 2018 to address an extreme shortage of affordable housing and the negative effects of short-term rentals on long-term housing markets. The Ordinance strictly limits home sharing to primary residences and requires “hosts” of short-term rentals to register for a permit. It also prohibits “host platforms” from processing bookings for listings without a valid City Home-Sharing registration number.
“We need to put a stake in the heart of this harmful vacation rental proposal, which would take thousands of units off the rental market in the middle of a housing and homelessness crisis,” said Councilmember Mike Bonin. “The proposed vacation rental ordinance would shred any hope of enforcing existing short-term rental rules and would do real harm.”
The event came as housing advocates, working Angelinos and UNITE HERE Local 11 increased their calls for stricter enforcement of the HSO and demand that council reject the proposed VRO.
Although unable to attend in person, Councilmember De Leon said in a statement, “The fact that an eviction moratorium is the only thing preventing many Angelenos from living on the street is a clarion call for all of us to focus on increasing the number of permanently available units at any given time. In a moment like this, anything that detracts from that, like the vacation rental ordinance, should be off the table,” said Councilmember De Leon.