The Beverly Hilton, Costa Mesa Hilton, Anahiem Hilton and Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills are the latest hotels to reach tentative labor agreements with Unite Here Local 11 as a five-month strike involving 15,000 Southland hotel workers drags on.
The agreements reached over the weekend place the Hilton alongside the Biltmore Los Angeles, Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, Le Merigot Santa Monica, Loews Hollywood and Laguna Cliffs Marriott. But 51 Southern California hotels have yet to reach middle ground with the union.
Unite Here co-President Kurt Petersen said timing is good – particularly for the Beverly Hilton.
“Hotel workers at the Beverly Hilton are eager to kick off the awards season now that Hollywood is back in full swing because they have a contract with a living wage,” Petersen, said in a statement.
Once ratified, the agreement will provide the hotels with:
- Wage increases to keep pace with the soaring cost of housing in Southern California
- Affordable family healthcare benefits
- “Humane” workloads and safe staffing
- Equal justice language that will provide protections for immigrant workers, and access to union jobs by people who were formerly incarcerated
The union didn’t provide specifics on those elements, as the labor agreements have yet to be finalized, but Unite Here has pushed hotels for an immediate $5-an-hour wage increase.
Ana Cortez, who has worked as a housekeeper at the Beverly Hilton for 34 years and earns $25.16 an hour, is looking forward to increased staffing.
“I feel overworked because I have to clean 25 rooms a day, and each room has two beds,” the 66-year-old Pacoima resident said. “They expect us to get each room done in 30 minutes. It’s a lot of work.”
The hotel strike, which began over the July 4th weekend, has generated tension between the two sides.
In August, Unite Here filed an unfair labor practice charge against the Coordinated Bargaining Group, which is representing the hotels in labor negotiations.
The action — which also targeted human resources directors with the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in Santa Monica, Hotel Maya in Long Beach and Marriott Laguna Cliffs Resort and Spa in Dana Point, along with their agents and/or supervisors — alleges they condoned violence against hotel workers in response to their union activities.
In one incident at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows, a picketer was allegedly tackled to the ground. Striking hotel workers also claim they were repeatedly “assaulted, threatened and had property destroyed” at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott Dana Point.
And Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon recently launched an investigation into the working conditions of unhoused refugees who have been hired by Southern California hotels during the ongoing hotel strike.
The migrants include workers who entered the country to seek asylum in Texas and were bused to California and other states by Gov. Greg Abbott. Some are from Mexico and some are from Central America, while others hail from countries as far away as Venezuela.
Unite Here spokeswoman Marie Hernandez said the union plans to push for more labor agreements that boost employee wages and improve working conditions.
“We’re hopeful that other hotels will take a leadership role and also come to an agreement,” she said. “We’ll keep pushing.”
Source: Orange County Register
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