Thank Your for Your Donation to the UNITE HERE Local 11 Mutual Aid Fund!

Workers will strike and picket despite City Attorney filing criminal cases against against workers who peacefully protested during earlier strike

Pasadena, CA: Dozens of hotel housekeepers, cooks and other employees of the Hilton Pasadena will be among hundreds of workers at hotels operated by Aimbridge Hospitality who will strike this Friday as part of a campaign for living wages, dignified conditions, and protections against sexual harassment.

The Hilton workers’ strike comes in the wake of criminal filings by the Pasadena City Attorney against protestors who participated in a peaceful picket line at the Hilton during a previous strike in December.  Pasadena is the only city in Southern California that has filed criminal charges against participants in strikes that have occurred at more than sixty hotels across Southern California.

The charges allege that the protestors used handheld bullhorns in violation of a city law that restricts the use of amplified sound that is more than five decibels above the ambient level. The union asserts that the law is unconstitutionally restrictive of free speech and that it was misapplied by the City Attorney in a way that stifled workers’ First Amendment rights.  Despite the City’s crackdown, the workers plan to strike again and to exercise their constitutional rights to peacefully protest.

Workers at the Pasadena Hilton join the already hundreds of workers at hotels operated by Aimbridge Hospitality across the Los Angeles area on strike.  Through strikes and an “occupy” action near LAX, Aimbridge workers are seeking send a message that Aimbridge’s to their operator that management’s recent response to sexual harassment allegations will not suffice and that they want respect and a fair contract.  Earlier this year, workers launched a boycott of the controversial hotel operator, which they have dubbed “Shamebridge.”