PRE-GRAMMY PARTY: Rat Allegations Soil Influencer Favorite W Hollywood Hotel

Los Angeles–Dozens of cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, servers, bellmen, and front desk agents from across the LA area will stage an action outside of the Sky Terrace at W Hollywood. Workers and supporters will wear rat costumes and related props while the restaurant’s soft launch takes place.

The action will draw attention to workers’ allegations, as reported in the LA Times last December, that they have repeatedly observed what appeared to be rats in the dry food storage room of the Hotel’s basement and on the building’s rooftop Sky Terrace restaurant, both operated by Mosaic. Workers documented alleged rodent sightings as recently as mid-October of 2023. Concerned for their health and safety, workers submitted a complaint to Cal/OSHA on November 16, 2023 and requested that their employer take action. The complaint with Cal/OSHA remains pending investigation.

The Sky Terrace is located on the rooftop of the W Hotel building. Both the W Hollywood Hotel, operated by Marriott, and Sky Terrace, operated by Mosaic, have been embroiled in protracted labor disputes with their employees since union contract expired last summer. The Sky Terrace is also the subject of pending unfair labor practice charges filed by workers after the restaurant fired eight employees who had participated in the campaign for improved wages and working conditions.

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.

The W Hollywood building is owned by private equity firms Oaktree Capital Management and Trinity Investments. Los Angeles-based Oaktree, which has $189 billion under management, states on its website that “Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) considerations directly and materially impact investment outcomes,” but has failed to resolve the escalating labor disputes at the W Hollywood and Sky Terrace.