Wages in high-cost Southern California is a core issue between hotels and Unite Here Local 11, the union representing hospitality workers. Workers say they are commuting from hours away because they cannot afford to live where they work. They are seeking an immediate $5 an hour raise, followed by additional increases.
“Personally, I’m on strike because I can’t pay the rent. Food is too expensive,” said Lilia Sotelo, a striking housekeeper at the Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Hotel, who makes $19.80 an hour and pays $1,800 a month for a two-bedroom in Hawthorne. “Our quality of life has fallen since the pandemic.”
Last week, thousands of hotel workers, also represented by Local 11, struck for three days at 21 hotels in downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica, disrupting the busy July 4th holiday and a massive anime convention that drew tens of thousands.
The Hotel Association of Los Angeles did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday, but spokesman Peter Hillan previously told The Post that the union’s actions “certainly add to the growing black eye of L.A.’s reputation as a destination.”
At the end of June, union contracts expired for 60 Southern California hotels, representing 15,000 hospitality workers in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Only the Westin Bonaventure, the largest hotel in Los Angeles, has reached a tentative deal on a new contract.
In addition to wage increases, the union is demanding guaranteed staffing levels, automatic digital tipping and the continuation of its strong health insurance plan and pension program.
The Coordinated Bargaining Group, which represents the Southern California hotels in negotiations with Unite Here, said last week that their union broke the law by going on strike over demands that could harm the city’s tourism industry and “had nothing to do with our employees.”
As examples, the group said the union had insisted that hotels agree to support a ballot measure to house the homeless with hotel guests and impose a 7 percent tax on guests at union hotels. The group has filed federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board.
Kurt Peterson, co-president of Local 11, said that the union stands by its hotel tax request and that the group had mischaracterized the ballot measure that workers are asking hotel management to support, which “prioritizes building affordable housing over luxury hotels.”
The union did not say how long the strike will last.