The Beverly Hilton, one of the hotels whose workers could go on strike as soon as Dec. 12
Los Angeles-based Unite Here Local 11 has confirmed to Northstar Meetings Group that union workers at 24 hotels in Los Angeles and Orange County, Calif., voted overwhelmingly on Dec. 6 to strike beginning Dec. 12 if a new contract is not ratified in the interim. The vote comes after a record-breaking 20 hotel strikes have already been carried out in more than 10 cities across the country so far this year.
One week after a number of contracts expired on Nov. 30, the vote also comes on the heels of strikes being settled in San Francisco late last week, and Hawaii the week before. As tensions mount at the bargaining table for the 24 hotels now under consideration, 7,500 workers are poised to take to picket lines over a list of demands that includes affordable health care, the implementation of panic buttons for housekeepers, increased pensions, stronger protection for immigrants and increasing the work wage to $25 an hour.
"We are asking that this contract get workers to $25 an hour," said Kurt Petersen, co-president of Unite Here Local 11, which represents more than 30,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona. "Los Angeles has one of the highest costs of living in the country, and our booming tourism industry can afford to pay its workers a living wage." In 2017, Los Angeles welcomed 48.3 million visitors, an increase of 2.2 percent from the year before, and the seventh consecutive year of record-breaking tourism numbers for the city. At the same time, median rent in the city rose to $1,760 for a two-bedroom apartment.
Workers in the following hotels are now posed to strike:
• Hilton Anaheim
• Beverly Hilton
• Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles
• Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, Los Angeles
• Courtyard by Marriott Los Angeles L.A. Live/Residence Inn Los Angeles L.A. Live
• Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows, Santa Monica
• Hilton Los Angeles North/Glendale & Executive Meeting Center
• Andaz West Hollywood
• InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown
• JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. Live
• L.A. Grand Hotel Downtown
• Loews Hollywood Hotel
• Luxe Rodeo Drive Hotel
• Luxe City Center Hotel, Los Angeles
• Westdrift Manhattan Beach, Autograph Collection
• Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel
• Sheraton Grand Los Angeles
• Sheraton Universal Hotel
• SLS Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Beverly Hills
• Sportmen's Lodge Event Center, Studio City
• The Line Los Angeles
• W Hollywood
• W Los Angeles–West Beverly Hills
• Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort