California Governor Gavin Newsom Signs into Law Bill for Right to Return to Work

Hot off the presses: California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill that provides rights to return to work for hospitality workers across hotels, airports, convention centers and clubs. The bill had passed the State Assembly earlier in the week. As an emergency measure, the bill goes into effect immediately.

We are grateful to the leadership and tenacity of our state Democratic legislators, especially Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher, Assemblymember Ash Kalra, and Senator Maria Elena Durazo, who have valiantly stood with us in our journey to secure these rights.

Zoom Celebration for Recall Rights for Hospitality Workers

Recall Rights for Hospitality Workers is Now Law in California

We applaud Governor Newsom who stands with these workers and affirms that no one should permanently lose their job during this pandemic. We are grateful to the leadership and tenacity of our state Democratic legislators, especially Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, Assemblyman Ash Kalra , and Senator Maria Elena Durazo.

Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, led by Brother Ron Herrera, walked with us every step of the way, and we thank the Major League Baseball Players Association, the NFL Players Association, CLUE: Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, and SAG-AFTRA for their early support.
We are most inspired and humbled by the courageous room attendants, cooks, dishwashers, and food service workers from Chateau Marmont and Terranea who never wavered and who deserve all the credit for this historic victory.
Text the word “JOB” to 877877 to learn more!
Mande la palabra “TRABAJO” al 877877 para más información!

Local 11 Joins Assemblywoman Gonzalez to Continue the Fight to Protect Jobs of Workers Laid Off Due to COVID-19

SACRAMENTO–California’s hospitality workforce is experiencing unprecedented levels of unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, California State Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) introduced Assembly Bill 1074, supported by hotel workers and UNITE HERE Local 11, to make sure hospitality workers are able to return to work when their employers can safely resume business operations.

“Latinos have made up the backbone of the hospitality industry for decades. Many stayed with the same employers for years in order to work their way up and earn a stable living. They have already disproportionately suffered the brunt of this pandemic,” Assemblywoman Gonzalez said. “When hotels and event centers can safely reopen, the least we must do is ensure workers can return to the jobs they previously held. AB 1074 is commonsense policy that provides the support our local communities need to recover from this economic crisis.”

Earlier today, Assemblywoman Gonzalez joined dozens of workers who caravanned from Los Angeles and Orange County to La Jolla for a press conference outside JC Resorts’ corporate headquarters. JC Resorts owns and operates hotels and golf courses across California, including the Terranea Resort in Ranchos Palos Verdes, which terminated much of its workforce amid the pandemic without making a binding commitment to rehire longtime workers when the hotel reopened. Gonzalez’s AB 1074 would help ensure job security for these workers by establishing statewide rehiring and retention protections for California’s hospitality workforce.

Nearly 40% of all California jobs lost during the pandemic have been in the hospitality industry. AB 1074 would save hundreds of thousands of jobs and boost long-term economic recovery by ensuring qualified, laid-off employees in the hospitality industry are offered employment when their jobs become available as businesses reopen. The bill would prevent discriminatory hiring practices designed to cut costs by replacing longtime employees with a less experienced workforce at lower rates of pay.

“California’s hospitality workforce has been decimated by COVID-19, and these employees deserve basic protections which will allow them to return to the jobs and wages they earned before the pandemic as the industry reopens,” Senator María Elena Durazo (D-Los Angles), principal co-author of AB 1074, said. “This bill effectively addresses the concerns Governor Newsom raised to our prior effort.”

A number of local jurisdictions across the state have already passed similar ordinances to ensure hospitality workers have the right to return to their previous jobs, including Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Long Beach, and Pasadena.

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez represents California’s 80th Assembly District, located in southern San Diego County, including the cities of San Diego, Chula Vista, and National City. She serves as Chair of the Assembly Committee on Appropriations and Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Latina Inequities. For more information on Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, visit http://asm.ca.gov/gonzalez

We Will Continue Fighting

Statement Regarding Governor Newsom’s Action on AB 3216

AB 3216 would simply have allowed hospitality workers to return to their jobs as the industry reopens. This veto is devastating to the low wage workers who built the hospitality industry, especially women of color, who were looking for a leader to walk with them through this time of struggle. The most powerful elected Democrat in the state sided with the wealthy hotel owners of the Terranea Resort and Chateau Marmont instead of hardworking hotel workers. The pain for immigrant workers is compounded by the Governor’s additional vetoes of AB 826 (emergency food assistance to immigrants) and SB 1257 (workplace safety protections for domestic workers). Our families and communities lose with the combined impact of these actions. We are thankful to all of the Democratic legislators who stood with the working poor and supported these essential protections.

The housekeepers, dishwashers, and cooks who led this fight are committed to upholding our democracy. Workers are already on their way to join their brothers and sisters to walk door to door in searing heat of Arizona to save democracy by electing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Our commitment to our values and our vision stands strong. When we’re done getting out the vote for this election, we’ll return and fight to make it right for California workers, even if it’s hard to imagine how in this moment of heartache.

Ada Briceño, co-president
Susan Minato, co-president
Kurt Petersen, co-president

“What am I to do without the job that I’ve depended on for so long? Am I supposed to beg my boss not to replace me? I came to the Capitol with hope in my heart that Governor Newsom would hear my story and stand with me as a leader and a Democrat. Instead I see that I will depend on my coworkers so we can defend ourselves against the power of Disney, the Chateau Marmont and the other mega-corporations, and this has always been the truth we face.”

— Maria Sanchez, laid-off worker at Aramark, Anaheim Convention Center

Local 11 Statement on Disney Laying Off Cast Members Due to COVID-19

Cast members plan Caravan to Capitol Wednesday, Ask Gov. Newsom to Sign AB 3216

Anaheim, CA: UNITE HERE Local 11 just learned that Disney will lay off approximately 950 of our nearly 3,000 members, effective November 1.  The Union will engage in bargaining with the company over issues including job security and healthcare coverage.  This highlights the urgent need for AB 3216, the California State law that guarantees recall and retention for hospitality workers. We are asking Governor Gavin Newsom to sign AB 3216 now.

Tomorrow, furloughed Disney workers will caravan to the California State Capitol to ask Governor Gavin Newsom sign AB 3216. AB 3216 would guarantee the most experienced of these workers the ability to return to their jobs when the crisis subsides. Governor Gavin Newsom has until September 30 to sign AB 3216.

The caravan comes after Disney announced it would lay off 28,000 of its cast members due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I love my job, which is why as a mom of five kids I am asking Governor Gavin Newsom sign AB 3216 to ensure that hundreds of thousands of workers like myself have the opportunity to return to their job once the pandemic is over” said Ines Guzman, furloughed housekeeper at the Disneyland Hotel for 5 years.

“Our members have given decades of their lives to companies like Disney. Now through no fault of their own, they are being laid off. We urge Governor Gavin Newson to sign AB 3216 a lifeline for hospitality workers” said Ada Briceño, Chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County and Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11.

Keisha Banks in Sacramento

 

Maria Elena Durazo in Sacramento

Letter to Governor Newsom