LOS ANGELES (AP) — Workers at major Southern California hotels went on strike just over the Fourth of July long weekend to demand better wages and benefits.
The strike by bellhops, receptionists, room attendants, cooks, servers and dishwashers began early Sunday in Los Angeles and Orange counties just as summer tourism is picking up. The employers accused the union of not bargaining.
Unite Here Local 11 members voted last month to strike. In addition to better wages, the union wants better health care benefits, higher pension contributions and less strenuous workloads.
The contracts expired at midnight Friday at more than 60 hotels, including properties owned by major chains such as Marriott and Hilton. The strike affects nearly half of the 32,000 hospitality workers the union represents in southern California and Arizona.
This happens in the midst of Independence Day celebrations and a major anime convention in Los Angeles. The union, on its website, urged guests “not to eat, sleep or gather” at the striking hotels to support the workers.
The strike is the latest action by a restive labor movement in California.
Hollywood writers have been on strike since the beginning of May. In March, bus drivers, janitors and other support staff stopped at the gigantic Los Angeles Unified School District for three days. Los Angeles teachers supported that strike and later agreed to their own contract. Oakland teachers went on strike for more than a week and delays occurred at the big ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach before dockworkers on the West Coast reached a tentative deal in June. Actors could also go on strike.
