Southern California hotels have filed an unfair labor practice charge claiming the union uses the strike to push for policy proposals unrelated to employee interests.
The group’s grievance concerns Unite Here Local 11’s demand for hotels to publicly endorse a 2024 ballot measure requiring Los Angeles hotels to offer vacant rooms to homeless people
The union has also called for a seven percent fee on guest room sales to establish a fund assisting hospitality workers in accessing affordable housing.
Read More: Strike ends for LA hotel workers with no deal reached
Attorney Keith Grossman, representing the hotel coalition, said the union’s insistence on including these provisions in the contract negotiations and resorting to strikes is both unlawful and an obstacle to reaching a settlement.
The hotel bargaining group represents 44 hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
It filed the unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board on June 30, accusing the union of bargaining in bad faith by striking over “nonmandatory subjects.”
Read More: Southern California hotel workers strike demanding better pay and benefits
Meanwhile, thousands of workers from over a dozen hotels recently returned to work after a three-day strike over wages and benefits during the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Unite Here Local 11 dismissed the accusations, saying their proposals aim to support those most affected by the housing crisis.
It includes hotel workers struggling with high living costs in the areas where they are employed.
The hotel group’s claims were met with skepticism, given the high room rates charged during the busy holiday weekend in downtown LA.
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Unite Here Local 11 co-President Kurt Petersen said the hotel group prioritizes paying workers a living wage instead of pursuing baseless complaints.
The union gathered signatures to place the Los Angeles Responsible Hotel Ordinance on the March 2024 ballot.
Hotel owners and operators strongly oppose the measure, which includes provisions like reporting vacant rooms to the city for housing homeless people and linking new hotel development to affordable housing construction.