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BREAKING NEWS: Strikes Continue Following Hotels’ Failure to Increase Wage Offer; Walkouts Mark 100th Strike in Historic Fight
Santa Monica, CA: A new wave of worker strikes began early Monday morning in response to hotel companies’ failure to provide an economic proposal at last Thursday’s negotiations. The wave will start in Santa Monica hotels, including the Fairmont Miramar (101 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401). With these walkouts, hotel workers have struck more than 100 times in the largest hotel strike in U.S. history.
“I still have pain on my arms and knees from when security guards pushed me on the pavement.” said German Martinez, a dishwasher of 34 years at the Fairmont Miramar. “It was disrespectful to see our employer not even address or apologize to us, and instead come back with no offer. We will do what we have to do until we get the fair contract we deserve.”
RELEASE: Long Beach City Council Votes to Put $25 Initiative on 2024 Ballot, Hospitality Workers Rally In Favor
Long Beach, CA: Over a hundred hospitality workers, Long Beach community leaders, and their allies testified and attended the Long Beach City Council meeting on Tuesday in favor of putting an initiative on the 2024 ballot that would put the city on a pathway to raise the wage for hospitality workers to $25 per hour.
The council voted unanimously to direct city staff to draft the policy that would go on the March 2024 ballot.
Yadira Aguilar, a housekeeper at the Hyatt Centric said “As a single mother, a better wage would mean I could better provide for my family. I pay $1,900 in rent and also take care of my sick mother in Mexico. It is hospitality workers like myself who make Long Beach run. Thank you to the council for hearing our voices.”
Grecia Lopez-Reyez, Director for Long Beach for a Just Economy said. “A ballot measure is an opportunity for voters to decide to raise the wage again for hospitality workers who are the backbone of a profitable industry. When workers thrive, we all thrive.”
The push to raise the wage for Long Beach hospitality workers comes as the tourism industry has seen record revenue while workers struggle to stay housed and provide for their families.
Similar initiatives are being considered in other cities in the region, including Los Angeles, Anaheim, and Santa Monica. The council is expected to come back for a final vote on October 24, 2023.
Workers at Sheraton Universal Join City-Contracted LA Grand Hotel on Strike, As SoCal Hotel Strike Grows
Workers protest hotels owned by developer recently convicted of bribery
Los Angeles: In the latest development in what has become the largest hotel worker strike in modern history, workers at the Sheraton Universal hotel went on an unfair labor practice strike this morning. They join workers from the LA Grand who walked out on strike yesterday.
Workers at the Sheraton Universal have filed pending federal unfair labor practice charges alleging that the hotel has retaliated against workers by disciplining or suspending approximately sixteen workers for protesting for better wages, among other allegedly unlawful conduct.
The Sheraton Universal and LA Grand are sister properties owned and operated by Shen Zhen New World LLC. On May 12, 2023, following an 11-day trial, the company was convicted of bribery and related charges and fined $4 million for giving benefits – including luxury trips and a sham loan – to bribe then-Los Angeles City Councilman José Huizar in a bid to obtain city approval to build a skyscraper. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Shen Zhen’s owner is a fugitive believed to be in China.
The LA Grand operates under a contract with the City of Los Angeles as a site for Project Roomkey, an initiative to provide temporary shelter for unhoused persons. Workers at the hotel have raised concerns about staffing since the start of the program several years ago and have failed a pending unfair labor practice charge alleging that the hotel disciplined a worker for complaining about safety issues. Workers have also been calling for fair wages and benefits so that they can afford to live in Los Angeles and not join the ranks of the unhoused themselves.
Hotel workers at the Sheraton Park and Anaheim Hilton next to Disneyland in Orange County are also currently on strike.
Dufry Hudson Group Concession Workers at Ontario Airport on Strike!
Labor Day Weekend: Striking Hotel Workers Celebrate Messi and Team Solidarity While More Workers go on Strike in LA and Orange County
Over the Labor Day weekend, workers across the region were shown immense solidarity. At the Fairmont Santa Monica, striking workers learned that the Inter Miami CF and Lionel Messi were slated to stay at the hotel for a game this Sunday against LAFC. Striking workers then asked Messi and the team to siupport the boycott and cancel their stay at the hotel, which was a site of violence against workers several weeks ago.
Labor Day Kickoff: LAX Workers Vote 99% to Authorize Strike
“My entire family works for AREAS USA–myself, my sister, my brother, and my mom. None of us make enough money to survive,” said Cecilia Otea, barista at Urth Bar. “All of us have to work and live together to afford living in LA. I’m voting yes to strike so my entire family can have a better life.”
Workers could walk out any day starting Labor Day weekend, joining thousands of hotel workers, also represented by UNITE HERE Local 11, who have engaged in a wave of strikes since the 4th of July weekend.
DAY 3: Chaos Continues During APSA, Thousands of Hotel Workers March in DTLA To Kick Off Labor Day Weekend
Los Angeles: On Friday, SoCal hotel strikers will march from the InterContinental Los Angeles to the JW Marriott LA Live. Hotel workers from over a dozen properties walked off the job Wednesday, marking the latest development in this massive citywide labor dispute..
STRIKE AUTHORIZED: AREAS LAX