PRESS INQUIRIES
For Press Inquiries:
Maria Hernandez, Communications
(623) 340-8047 (mobile)
mhernandez {at} unitehere11 {dot} org
For Arizona Press Inquiries:
Rachele Smith, Communications
(623) 670-9889 (mobile)
rsmith {at} unitehere11 {dot} org
Some of the following press releases have been shortened and edited to avoid redundancy.
High resolution photos are available upon request.
ADVISORY: Indefinite Strike by Sky Harbor HMS Host Workers Will Continue Through Thanksgiving
Phoenix – On a day many reserve for gratitude and gathering with family, HMS Host workers will continue to picket, chant and hold a drum line at Sky Harbor. Workers have been on strike since Monday when they announced their indefinite walkout. The strike will impact travelers arriving and departing from Terminals 3 and 4.
ADVISORY: Sky Harbor HMS Host Workers’ Indefinite Strike Reaches Day 3
Phoenix – HMS Host workers’ indefinite strike will reach its third day just one day before Thanksgiving, reportedly the busiest travel day of the year. Striking workers will continue to picket, chant and hold a drum line in protest of HMS Host’s unwillingness to agree to their demands for a fair labor contract. The strike will impact travelers arriving and departing from Terminals 3 and 4.
Tuesday Marks Day 2 of Sky Harbor HMS Host Workers’ Indefinite Strike
Days before Thanksgiving holiday, airport concessions workers remain firm: no agreement, no work
Phoenix – After a successful walkout on Monday, HMS Host workers at Sky Harbor Airport will remain on an indefinite strike Tuesday. The strike continues to impact travelers arriving and departing in both Terminals 3 and 4.
HMS Host workers make up the largest group of food concessions workers at the Phoenix airport. HMS Host is the single largest concessionaire at Sky Harbor Airport, employing hundreds of workers in over two dozen restaurant and coffee shop outlets.
Workers are demanding a new, comprehensive contract with fair raises, affordable health insurance, a company-paid retirement contribution, protections for workers’ tips, and strong contract language for equal opportunity and protection from discrimination. Workers with UNITE HERE Local 11 have been in negotiations with HMS Host since 2017. Delays in settling a contract mean delays in wage increases and official COVID safety protocols during a global pandemic.
BREAKING: Sky Harbor HMS Host Workers Begin Indefinite Strike Monday
Phoenix – HMS Host workers at Sky Harbor Airport will strike early Monday morning. The strike will impact travelers arriving and departing in both Terminals 3 and 4.
HMS Host workers make up the largest group of food concessions workers at the Phoenix airport. HMS Host is the single largest concessionaire at Sky Harbor Airport, employing hundreds of workers in over two dozen restaurant and coffee shop outlets.
Workers are demanding a new, comprehensive contract with fair raises, affordable health insurance, a company-paid retirement contribution, protections for workers’ tips, and strong contract language for equal opportunity and protection from discrimination. Workers with UNITE HERE Local 11 have been in negotiations with HMS Host since 2017. Delays in settling a contract mean delays in wage increases and official COVID safety protocols during a global pandemic.
Workers are prepared to strike indefinitely until HMS Host agrees to settle a contract that meets their demands.
STRIKE ALERT: Ahead of Busy Travel Season, Sky Harbor HMS Host Workers Vote 97% to Authorize Strike
BREAKING NEWS: 11/19/2021
Phoenix airport concessions workers may announce an indefinite walkout any day following overwhelming vote in favor of strike
Phoenix: HMS Host workers at Sky Harbor Airport voted 97% Thursday in favor of authorizing a strike. The authorization comes just one week before the Thanksgiving holiday, after almost four years of negotiations and no contract. Workers have not yet announced a date for the strike to begin.
HMS Host is the single largest concessionaire at Sky Harbor Airport employing hundreds of workers in over two dozen restaurant and coffee shop outlets. A strike would impact travelers arriving and departing in both Terminal 3 and 4.
Workers are demanding a new, comprehensive contract with fair raises, affordable health insurance, a company-paid retirement contribution, protections for workers’ tips, and strong contract language for equal opportunity and protection from discrimination. Workers with UNITE HERE Local 11 have been in negotiations with HMS Host since 2017. Delays in settling a contract mean delays in wage increases and official COVID safety protocols during a global pandemic.
“I voted yes to authorize a strike because I have worked for HMS Host for 27 years and I still don’t have a pension,” said cook Santos Mojica. “I want to know that I will be able to afford to retire in dignity when I can no longer work.”
UNITE HERE Local 11 Response to Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games Agreement
BREAKING NEWS: 11/17/2021
UNITE HERE Local 11 Response to Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games Agreement
Los Angeles: For almost six months, the City of Los Angeles has refused to disclose a single clause of the 2028 Games Agreement. Now that the Agreement has been released following a lawsuit from advocates, the absence of public input is all too obvious. The Olympics tourism infrastructure boom can transform the lives of L.A.’s working families, but the Games Agreement, as drafted, fails to take into account some of the most urgent issues our City is facing today:
1.) The Agreement’s proposed “Local Hire Program” and workforce development goals would do very little to ensure the quality of the jobs that will be required to carry out the Games. The proposals are devoid of any concrete commitments to workplace standards; its vague gestures to “diversity” and “opportunity” fall far short of a commitment to good, family-sustaining jobs.
2.) The Games Agreement ignores the underrepresentation and occupational segregation of Black workers within the accommodation and food service jobs that the Games will create. Although the document vaguely gestures to “diversity,” there are no concrete commitments to hire and retain Black workers within the Games.
3.) Despite the fact that Los Angeles is in the midst of an unprecedented housing crisis, the Games Agreement does not mention the word “housing.” It includes no protections against the displacement and increasing unaffordability that have been linked to recent Olympic Games.
It is essential for any governing document of this massive event to prioritize the well-being of low-income Angelenos–the workers who will be delivering the services needed for the Games and who could be forced further out of affordable housing by the development brought on by the Games. Without directly confronting these pressing realities, any Games Agreement the City enters into is a betrayal of the City’s hardest-working and poorest residents.
The Los Angeles City Council must delay the vote on the Olympic Games Agreement until the public has had ample opportunity to weigh in on an agreement that has thus far been shrouded in secrecy. Planning for an event of this scale requires transparency and meaningful input from community groups and working people. If City Council refuses to put affirmative protections in place, Los Angeles risks the same lasting harms that other Olympic host cities have suffered.
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UNITE HERE Local 11 is a labor union representing over 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona who work in hotels, restaurants, universities, stadiums, sport arenas, convention centers, and airports.
Hospitality Training Academy Awarded $3 Million Federal Grant to Help Workers Impacted by COVID-19
Hospitality Training Academy Awarded $3 Million Federal Grant to Help Workers Impacted by COVID-19
Los Angeles (November 12, 2021): The Hospitality Training Academy (HTA) and its allies revealed the details of the $3 million Federal Grant to help workers impacted by COVID-19. The CAREER National Dislocated Worker Grant will provide underserved workers with high-road employment and career pathways by participation in registered union apprenticeships and training programs in the hospitality, construction, and retail food industries.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has left far too many people out of work, struggling through no fault of their own to support themselves and their families – so beyond job training, this grant is an investment in creating more stable, supportive workplaces and families, in lifting families out of poverty, and in providing historically marginalized and underserved communities with tangible opportunities. It’s about Building Back Better – and this is just the beginning,” said Congressman Schiff, U.S. House of Representatives, 28th Congressional District. “I am excited to hear the Hospitality Training Academy’s stories of success and of the people they help succeed.”
The occasion was celebrated at HTA’s Culinary Training Kitchen in Los Angeles with elected officials U.S Congressmember Schiff, State Senator Durazo, County officials, and Representatives from HTA, UNITE HERE Local 11, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, United Food and Commercial Workers, LA/OC Building & Construction Trades Council, and Apprenticeship Readiness Fund.
“I am excited about the $3 million grant to the Hospitality Training Academy. A workforce development grant to train men and women in the hospitality industry is the kind of initiative we need more of across California and throughout the country. We know that the hospitality industry is one of the hardest hit during the pandemic and that low-paid workers are the most severely impacted. This federal grant will ensure that HTA has the resources it needs to continue to create good jobs with upward mobility in the hospitality, food service, and tourism industries and help get workers back on their feet! The grant will also help businesses recruit and train highly qualified individuals, which is highly needed,” said California State Senator Maria Elena Durazo 24th District.
The event highlighted how programs like CAREER Grant are the key to ensuring that those hardest hit by the pandemic can recover through training and placement in good union jobs. In addition to claiming the lives of our fellow Angelenos, the COVID-19 crisis has pushed so many of them to the brink of poverty. Projects like the CAREER Grant are essential to our economic recovery and to lifting so many of our essential workers out of poverty and into stable work environments.
“We are proud of the work we have done with our employer and government partners at the city, county, state and federal level to put people back to work in good union jobs and safe environments” said Susan Minato Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11 and Chair of Board of Trustees for Hospitality Training Academy.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, HTA and UNITE HERE Local 11 have served more than 4.5 million meals to Los Angeles County’s most vulnerable community members through the “Serving Our Community” program. The meals were cooked by partner employers like JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton LA LIVE, Pomona College, and The Beverly Hilton – among others – and then delivered by taxi cabs and airport shuttles. Created to address the urgent needs of low-income Angelenos, the program employed 1,364 previously laid-off and experienced professionals ensuring continuity of service at keystone employers that are a fiscal engine in our region; and providing meals to at-risk populations.
“The Hospitality Training Academy and UNITE HERE Local 11 changed my life and provided me with skills needed to walk into a job and feel prepared. I am proud to have taken part in the Serving Our Community Program providing meals to those who needed it most. Thanks to my union, I was able to maintain my healthcare for my kids while working at the Sheraton Grand serving meals as part of this program.” said Fretecia Johnson member of UNITE HERE Local 11 and Hospitality Training Academy alumni.
B-Roll link to event footage and cooking and preparing meals here.
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About:
CAREER Grant (Comprehensive and Accessible Reemployment through Equitable Employment Recovery National Dislocated Worker Grant) comes through the U.S. Department of Labor at a critical time. This multi-industry project will provide job training to two-hundred unemployed workers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare them for placement in high-wage, stable union jobs with benefits.
The Hospitality Training Academy (HTA) provides a variety of workforce development, apprenticeship, ESL, and training programs to train low-income, marginalized individuals for jobs in the hospitality and foodservice industry.
UNITE HERE Local 11 is a labor union representing over 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona who work in hotels, restaurants, universities, convention centers, and airports.
UNITE HERE Local 11 Leads Fight As West Hollywood City Council Approves Highest Minimum Wage in the Country
BREAKING NEWS: 11/04/2021
West Hollywood: Just past midnight, the West Hollywood City Council voted unanimously to establish a citywide minimum wage of $17.64, including 96 hours of paid sick leave and other benefits. While this measure aligns West Hollywood hotel workers with those in Santa Monica and Los Angeles who have earned $17.64 since July of this year, the wage increase for workers in all other industries is unprecedented.
“Our union is proud to have led the fight to pass a living wage in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and now West Hollywood. Workers across all industries, especially in hotels who have been hardest hit by the pandemic deserve a living wage. Tonight’s council vote is proof of the bold leadership and action needed to ensure workers recover from the effects of this pandemic,” said Kurt Petersen, Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11.
This victory is a culmination of an effort that UNITE HERE Local 11, Councilmember Horvath and then Councilmember Heilman started back in 2016 to raise the citywide minimum wage to $15, which failed on a 2-3 vote.
“Having a living wage will not only help me and my co-workers, but every single worker in the city of West Hollywood. I know that with the current wages, we cannot live in the city we’ve helped build,” said Norma Hernandez, a housekeeper at the Mondrian Hotel. “Thank you for passing this living wage and ensuring that workers like me can be a part of this city’s recovery.”
This is the second time since July, the West Hollywood City Council has voted to stand with workers hit hardest by the pandemic. Following efforts by UNITE HERE Local 11 and after hearing from hotel workers across the city, the council approved one of the most progressive hotel worker protection laws in the country ensuring fair compensation for heavy workloads, right of recall, training, and panic buttons for all hotel workers