Workers strike at major hotels in Southern California over wages and benefits
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Workers spiked again Monday at major Southern California hotels after taking off from work over the Fourth of July weekend to demand better wages and benefits.
The strike by bellboys, front desk clerks, room attendants, cooks, clerks and dishwashers began early Sunday in Los Angeles and Orange County, just as summer tourism picked up. Employers accused the union of not negotiating.
Members of Unite Here Local 11 voted to approve the strike last month. In addition to higher wages, the union wants better health care benefits, higher pension premiums and less heavy work pressure.
Contracts expired at midnight on 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 hospitality workers the union represents in Southern California and Arizona.
Osiris Gaona, a telephone operator at InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown, was accompanied on the picket line by her husband, 15-year-old son and 7-year-old granddaughter. They will march again on Tuesday, July 4, she said.
“We hope to send a message to the owners of all hotels,” Gaona said. “We’re asking for a raise because it’s so expensive to live here in California, especially in LA.”
The strike comes amid holiday celebrations and a major anime convention in Los Angeles. The union, on its website, urged guests not to “eat, sleep or meet” in the striking hotels, hiring temporary workers to cover for the striking workers. But it wasn’t immediately clear whether the strike resulted in guests checking out early or getting no service.
It is the latest move by a restive labor movement in California.
Hollywood writers have been on strike since early May. In March, the giant Los Angeles Unified School District was shut down for three days by bus drivers, custodians and other support staff. Los Angeles teachers supported that strike and then negotiated a deal on their own contract without walking out. Oakland teachers went on strike for over a week, and delays occurred in the major ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach before west coast dockers reached a tentative settlement in June. Actors can also strike.
According to the union, the rising cost of living in Los Angeles is a major problem for hotel workers.
Last week, a deal was reached with the largest employer, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in downtown Los Angeles, which has more than 600 union employees. Union officials described the preliminary agreement, which offers higher wages and more staff, as a major win for workers.
Talks with other hotels, including the Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons Regent Beverly Wilshire and Anaheim Hilton, near Disneyland, stalled. A coalition of more than 40 hotels involved in talks accused union leaders of canceling a scheduled negotiation session and refusing to come to the table. The hotels have offered wage increases of $2.50 an hour in the first 12 months and $6.25 over four years, the group said.
“From the outset, the Union has shown no desire to engage in productive, good-faith negotiations with this group,” the hotel coalition said in a statement on Sunday. “The Union has not wavered from its opening demand two months ago of a maximum 40% wage increase and more than 28% increase in benefit costs.”
The work stoppage was anticipated and the properties are “fully prepared to continue operating these hotels and looking after our guests for as long as this disruption lasts,” said Keith Grossman, a coalition spokesman.
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Associated Press writers John Antczak and Christopher Weber contributed.
