Thousands of Hotel Workers Go on Strike in Southern California Over Rising Living Expenses

Thousands of Southern California hotel workers went on strike on the Fourth of July weekend for a new contract with higher wages and benefits, according to the employees’ union.

Non-managerial hotel staff, including cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, servers, bellmen, and front desk workers, were seen picketing outside major hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties as the summer tourist season picks up.

Members of UNITE HERE Local 11, which represents more than 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona, started striking at more than a dozen hotels throughout Los Angeles and Santa Monica region on the morning of July 1, according to the union’s Twitter page.

Last month, members of UNITE HERE Local 11,voted 96 percent in favor of authorizing the strike after contract negotiations, which began April 20, stalled, a union representative told CNBC.

About 15,000 workers at 65 hotels represented by Local 11 in Los Angeles and Orange counties saw their current contract expire at midnight on June 30, according to the union.

Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, and luxury hotels like the Westin Bonaventure in Downtown Los Angeles and the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, are expected to be affected.

Rising Cost of Living Standards Is Main Reason for Strike, Says Union

The hotel employees union is demanding better wages, improved health.care benefits, higher pension contributions, and stronger workplace protections.

A pay raise remains their top priority, workers told KCRW, an NPR affiliate, and said they can no longer afford to live in the cities where they work.

The workers are asking for a $5 immediate hourly wage increase for members and a $3 boost annually for the entirety of their three-year contract.

The union said that while hotels received billions in federal bailout funds during the pandemic, the industry has since recovered and is exceeding pre-pandemic profits, but wages have not kept up with the rising cost of living.

The City of Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board said that tourism is back to 91 percent of 2019’s pre-pandemic levels, while visitors spent $21 billion locally in 2022.

Labor representatives said that housekeepers were making between $20 to $25 an hour, and they estimated that $39.31 an hour was needed to afford rent a two-bedroom apartment in greater Los Angeles.

UNITE HERE Local 11 says 53 percent of the workers it is representing have moved or are planning to move outside of Los Angeles.

A shortage of affordable housing throughout California is being blamed by affordable housing advocates for an increase in homelessness.

Less than 1 million rentals are available for low-income tenants in the state, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

The union is also requesting a “hospitality workforce housing fund” to assist workers in dealing with the soaring costs of living, as many are dealing with long commutes to work since they are unable afford to live near their jobs.

“Workers have been pent up and frustrated and angry about what’s happened during the pandemic combined with the inability to pay their rent and stay in Los Angeles,” said Kurt Petersen, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11, in a statement.

“So people feel liberated, it’s Fourth of July, freedom is reigning in Los Angeles and hotel workers are leading that fight.”

It was “shameful” that “the hotel negotiators decided to take a four-day holiday instead of negotiating,” said Peterson.

California Hotel Industry Accuses Union Negotiators of Bad Faith

However, representatives for the hotel industry in Los Angeles have accused the union of not bargaining in good faith and that leaders were determined to disrupt operations.

The Hotel Association of Los Angeles released a statement on June 29 that hotel management representatives were attempting to actively engage in “good faith collective bargaining” with the union.

“The hotel community will continue to provide excellent service in welcoming guests to the Los Angeles area as we always do,” it added.

Keith Grossman and Ken Ballard, the attorneys representing the Coordinated Bargaining Group, the 44 Los Angeles County and Orange County hotels involved in the negotiations, said in a press statement that the union “has shown no desire to engage in productive, good faith negotiations with this group.”

The 44 hotels said they proposed wage increases of $2.50 per hour in the first year, rising to a $6.25 hourly increase over the next four years.

The Local 11 had already come to an agreement with Westin Bonaventure, the Los Angeles’s largest hotel, the day before their contract expired. This would affect its 600 workers, who will receive increased wages and pension contributions, among other benefits, according to the union.

Both Hyatt and UNITE HERE Local 11 reached a new contract agreement with workers in Long Beach back in April,  which included a $4 an hour raise.

Wave of Strikes Hit Los Angeles in 2023

The last major industry strike was in 2018, when nearly 8,000 Marriott employees walked off the job for over two months, in eight cities across the country, including Boston, San Francisco, Detroit, and Honolulu, until a contract agreement was reached.

Hotel service was disrupted and several big conferences were canceled.

UNITE HERE Local 11 was also involved in those negotiations, and workers were able to get a $4 an hour raise and protections against sexual harassment, according to the union’s website.

The hotel strike is occurring amid the four-day Anime Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center, which began on July 1, and is expected to attract 100,000 people from around the world, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Epoch Times reached out to the union for comment.