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Southern California hotel workers strike demanding better pay and benefits
https://www.whatjobs.com/news/usa/us-employment-news/southern-california-hotel-workers-strike-demanding-better-pay-and-benefits
Thousands of Southern California hotel staffers went on strike just before the Fourth of July holiday to secure improved wages, benefits, and reduced workloads.
Represented by Unite Here Local 11, the workers argue they cannot afford to live near their workplaces in Los Angeles and often have to commute from hours away.
The union represents hotel workers, including cooks, housekeepers, and dishwashers.
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It calls for an immediate $5-an-hour wage increase to address the rising cost of housing, decreased workloads, and continued access to affordable healthcare for families.
Over 15,000 workers are part of this union.
Negotiations between the union and hotels have been ongoing for weeks, aiming to establish a new contract to replace the one that expired on Saturday.
Before the strike, only one hotel, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in Los Angeles, reached an agreement with the union.
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The 44 Los Angeles and Orange County hotels, represented by law firms Hirschfeld Kraemer and Ballard Rosenberg Golper & Savitt, said they offered wage increases of $2.50 per hour in the first year and $6.25 over four years.
They also claimed that their proposal guaranteed current employees' healthcare coverage for them and their families and maintained contributions to a guaranteed pension.
The hotel group accused the union of not wanting to engage in productive and good-faith negotiations from the beginning.
Claudia Velasquez, a 54-year-old InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown housekeeper, shared her financial struggles.
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She said her expenses have risen, and she can barely afford groceries.
Housekeepers like Velasquez typically earn between $20 to $25 per hour.
Velasquez said the $700-a-month room she rents in South L.A. is considered cheaper than others in the area because she has been living there for years.
However, her paycheck barely covers her expenses and family support in El Salvador.
She said: "The pandemic affected me a lot because I couldn't work, and I'm still trying to recover from that.”
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