UNITE HERE Local 11 represents the hospitality workers in many of the iconic hotels in LA, Orange County, and Phoenix, Arizona. We represent the housekeepers, cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders, and front desk agents that make your stay at these hotels so memorable. Be sure to always stay in a union hotel. And when you leave, don’t forget to tip your housekeeper!

 

WE ARE WINNING!

BREAKING NEWS: UNITE HERE Local 11 and the Beverly Hilton Reach Agreement

Beverly Hills: Hundreds of housekeepers, cooks, dishwashers, servers, and front desk workers at the Beverly Hilton have reached a tentative agreement after a months’ long labor dispute. The hotel and union are pleased to announce their deal just before what promises to be an especially celebratory awards season on the heels of the actors’ and writers’ own labor disputes.

“This new contract will allow me to spend more time with my kids, and retire with dignity.  I am proud of all my coworkers for sticking together, and we will make sure our sisters and brothers in other Beverly Hills hotels get the same,” said Ana Cortez, housekeeper at the Beverly Hilton.

Once the contract is ratified, the workers at Beverly Hilton will secure:

  • Unprecedented wage increases that keep pace with the soaring cost of housing
  • Affordable, excellent family healthcare
  • Humane workloads and safe staffing
  • Improved pension increases so that workers can retire with dignity
  • Numerous improvements, including historic Equal Justice language that, among other things, will help to provide access to union jobs for formerly incarcerated individuals and unprecedented protections for immigrant workers.

The Beverly Hilton is the first hotel in Beverly Hills and the 6th overall to reach a tentative agreement.

“Hotel workers at the Beverly Hilton are eager to kick off the awards season now that Hollywood is back in full swing because they have a contract with a living wage,” said Kurt Petersen, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11. “The Beverly Hilton is a leader in Beverly Hills, and we challenge the Fairmont Century Plaza and Beverly Wilshire to quickly follow suit.”

Joint Statement from Beverly Hilton and UNITE HERE Local 11

UNITE HERE Local 11 and the Beverly Hilton are pleased to announce that we have reached a tentative agreement. Together, the iconic Beverly Hilton and its employees set the stage for the awards season, and we are delighted to be able to do so once again.

OCCUPY CENTURY BOULEVARD

Strikers from Century Boulevard hotels created an OCCUPY action right in front of the Sheraton Gateway & Sheraton Four Points LAX so the bosses couldn’t miss us.

Hotel Workers Stage “Occupy” Action at Sheraton Gateway and Four Points Sheraton LAX

Los Angeles—As the Christmas Holiday approaches, hundreds of room attendants, cooks, dishwashers, and community allies will occupy the Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles and Four Points Sheraton by LAX . The action will run day and night, as participants plan to camp on sidewalks overnight in order to demand wage increases that accommodate the skyrocketing cost of living in Los Angeles.

Workers across Los Angeles hotels have been in an ongoing labor dispute with hotel employers since July, fighting for better wages and working conditions in what has become the largest hotel worker strike in modern history. The workers’ primary contract goals include wage increases to keep pace with the soaring cost of housing in Los Angeles, quality and affordable health insurance, a pension to retire with dignity, and humane workloads.

Workers’ wages at Century Blvd hotels are significantly lower than those at hotels in Downtown LA. Moreover, Four Points by Sheraton LAX was one of the hotels involved in the recent scandal of migrant exploitation, in which unhoused refugees have alleged that they were exploited while working as replacement workers during recent hotel strikes. District Attorney George Gascon announced in October that his office, working jointly with the California Labor Commissioner, would be conducting a joint investigation.

Los Angeles will be the first city in modern history to host back-to-back the FIFA World Cup in 2026 and the Olympics in 2028. In recent decades, in country after country, mega events of this sort have left local governments indebted for years and have permanently displaced millions of poor residents. UNITE HERE Local 11 is calling on the industry and political leadership to use the events to create family sustaining jobs and help solve the housing crisis.

PRESS RELEASE: UNITE HERE Local 11 Files Federal Labor Charge Against Holiday Inn LAX, Alleging that Manager Unlawfully Prohibited Unhoused Refugee From Talking About Their Labor Conditions

Los Angeles, Calif. – After District Attorney George Gascon and the California Labor Commissioner announced a joint investigation into the alleged exploitation of unhoused refugees by hotels across Los Angeles County, UNITE HERE Local 11 has filed a federal unfair labor practice charge alleging that a Holiday Inn LAX manager warned the same unhoused workers not to tell anyone about their pay or other working conditions.

The charge follows the publication of an in-depth article by the Los Angeles Times reporting that several prominent hotels, or agencies acting on their behalf, had brought in unhoused refugees from Venezuela and Colombia to replace their own workers during recent strikes. The article reported that the Los Angeles district attorney was concerned about “potential wage theft and violations of child labor law.” The article also featured interviews and photographs of several of these unhoused workers.

The Los Angeles Times reported that “one migrant worker, a 17-year-old student at Belmont High School who requested anonymity, said he skipped two days of school to clean rooms at the Holiday Inn LAX.” The article stated: “He and his mother, who secured work as a housekeeper at the Holiday Inn, received payment via banking app Zelle from an agency called Arya Staffing Services Inc. Aimbridge Hospitality did not respond to questions about whether staffing agencies it used had secured appropriate permits to employ minors.”

On October 25, 2023, just two days after this article was published, the same agency or agencies brought in workers from the same Skid Row shelter to work at Holiday Inn LAX. As the labor charge alleges, when the agency workers arrived at the hotel, a high-level manager greeted them and immediately warned them not to talk to anyone who was asking about their working conditions. The labor charge, which is pending investigation, alleges that this constituted an implied threat in violation of federal labor law and an unlawful prohibition against workers’ exercise of federally protected rights.

“We know that it is not easy for anyone to speak out about their working conditions–but it is even more difficult for recent migrants fleeing difficult situations who depend on these precarious jobs for their and their families’ survival,” said Ada Briceno, co-president of Local 11. “These workers showed unbelievable bravery when they chose to speak publicly about what they experienced working in hotels. We want all immigrant workers to know that it is their right to be paid and treated fairly, and it is their right to speak out when they are not.”

The Holiday Inn LAX is operated by Aimbridge Hospitality, a subsidiary of Advent International. Workers at a dozen Aimbridge-operated hotels in Southern California have walked out on strike in recent months. The workers are demanding living wages that will allow them to live in the communities where they work. Workers at one of these Aimbridge-operated properties, the San Pedro Doubletree hotel, have also filed a class action lawsuit alleging that their employer failed to provide statutorily required protections against sexual assault.