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Recalcitrant Aimbridge Hospitality, Hotel Figueroa remain focal points of bitter labor dispute 

Los Angeles:  Following the Grand Prix of Long Beach, the Hotel Maya Long Beach has signed a tentative contract agreement. In the past week, the Hyatt Place Pasadena, Proper Santa Monica, Proper Downtown Los Angeles, Westdrift Manhattan Beach, Hotel June West LA, and Alsace Hotel also signed the historic accord.

UNITE HERE Local 11 and Hotel Maya issued this statement: “The Hotel Maya and UNITE HERE Local 11 are pleased to announce we have reached a fair settlement of our dispute. The settlement includes a commitment from all parties to engage in a good-faith reconciliation  process.”

The seven new agreements come at the heels of overwhelming ratification votes at 35 hotels, for a total of 41 settled contracts.

More than 10,000 workers at 52 hotels have struck 170 times so far in the largest strike in the history of the nation’s hospitality industry. Workers at five hotels struck last week and several more are set to go out this week.

The new contract has the largest economic increases of any industry-wide contract in the last 30 years.

• $5.00 an hour raise in the first year; workers will have $10,400 more to pay for rent, to feed their families

• 40 to 50% wage increases for non tipped workers over the 4.5 year term of the agreement

• Most room attendants will earn $35.00 an hour by July 1, 2027

• Guaranteed pre-pandemic staffing levels and mandatory daily room cleaning

• One of the highest paid pension plans for service workers in nation

• 50 pages of improvements, including Juneteenth as a paid holiday, unprecedented language for the fair treatment of workers impacted by the criminal justice system and protections of immigrant rights.

The contract will expire January 15, 2028, just before the world turns its attention on Los Angeles for the XXXIV Olympiad.

The membership has resolved to continue striking and boycotting until all hotels, including the Hotel Figueroa, all of the boycotted Aimbridge properties like the Doubletree Downtown Los Angeles, and the LA Grand, the site of the city-operated Inside Safe Program.

“My coworkers and I dealt with unthinkable violence to get to this point. We are proud that we never gave up, and we look forward to having the same standard raising benefits and protections other hotel workers now enjoy.” said Camila Delgado, Housekeeper at Hotel Maya.

“The workers at the Maya and the newly settled hotels are heroes. Despite living precariously close to being unhoused, they struck over and over without pay to win a living wage,” said Kurt Petersen, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11.  “They have not only won a life changing agreement – an unprecedented $5.00 an hour in the 1st year – but they have given hope to all working people that when you fight, you win.  It is time for the greedy few who remain – including Hotel Figueroa and private equity titans Blackstone and Aimbridge – to sign a fair contract.”

“Congratulations to members of UNITE HERE Local 11 and Hotel Maya Long Beach on reaching a historic contract agreement that ensures hospitality workers will have the dignity of living wages and industry-leading benefits to support their families,” said Mayor Rex  Richardson, “Over the next four years, as we prepare for the 2028 Olympics and welcome visitors from around the world to our vibrant Long Beach community, we can be proud that our local tourism economy continues to thrive, while placing value on the workforce that keeps our hospitality industry running.”

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