Cooks, maids, dishwashers, waiters, bellboys and hotel receptionists protested in front of some of the main hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties, precisely at a time when summer tourist influx is increasing.
Last month, 96% of Unite Here Local 11 union members voted to strike. The union seeks higher wages, better health benefits, higher pension contributions and less heavy workloads.
In addition, the union wants to create a “hospitality worker housing fund” to help employees cope with the rising costs of living in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Many of the workers point out that it takes them hours to get to their places of work because they cannot afford housing close to where they work.
“Our members have been devastated, first by the (COVID-19) pandemic, and now by the greed of their bosses,” union co-chairman Kurt Petersen said. “The (hotel) sector received bailouts while we received cuts.”
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 about half of the 32,000 industry employees represented by the union in southern California and Arizona.
An agreement was reached last week with its largest employer, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in downtown Los Angeles, which has more than 600 unionized workers. Union officials hailed the tentative deal, which offers higher wages and more staff, as a big win for workers.
Negotiations with other hotels continued to stall. A coalition of more than 40 hotels involved in the talks accused union leaders of canceling a scheduled bargaining session and refusing to sit down for talks. Hotels have offered wage increases of $2.50 an hour for the first 12 months and $6.25 an hour for the next four years, the group said.
“From the beginning, the union has shown no interest in engaging in good faith and productive negotiations with this group,” the hotel coalition said in a statement released Sunday. “The union has not budged from its initial demand two months ago for a wage increase of up to 40% and a greater than 28% increase in benefit costs.”
The strike was already anticipated, and the properties are “fully prepared to continue operating these hotels and serving our guests throughout the duration of this disruption,” said Keith Grossman, spokesman for the coalition.
FUENTE: Associated Press
