Global Courant
An ongoing strike by hotel workers in Southern California surrounded the Beverly Hilton, longtime host of the annual Golden Globe Awards, and the posh Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills early Monday morning.
It marks the latest escalation of a heated labor dispute between thousands of cooks, housekeepers, dishwashers, clerks, porters and front desk clerks represented by Unite Here Local 11 and some 60 hotels in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
Workers at the Fairmont Century Plaza, Hyatt Regency LAX and Laguna Cliffs Marriott also went on strike Monday, extending the footprint of the “third wave” of work stoppages that began July 20.
The current wave follows tense negotiating talks last week.
The protesting hotel workers have said their wages have not kept pace with rising housing costs, and as a result many have been driven from neighborhoods close to their workplaces and forced into long commutes. To remedy this, they demand higher wages and better fringe benefits. The union has proposed an immediate pay raise of $5 an hour, and a $3 raise each subsequent year of the three-year contract, for a total raise of $11.
During last week’s negotiations, a hotel industry group came up with a new contract proposal. Keith Grossman, an attorney representing a coalition of 44 hotels in Southern California, said the proposal represented an improved wage proposal but was rejected by the union.
Workers at 43 hotels have so far participated in the strike, the union said, which has been walking away from jobs at intervals of a few days since the July 4 holiday weekend. In total, about 15,000 hotel employees are affected by contracts that expired on June 30.
The constantly changing nature of the strike action can make it difficult to keep track of what is going on.
No party involved remains unharmed.
Some hotels involved in the dispute have lost business as major conferences have been canceled and moved to union-approved locations. The union has accused hotels of breaking strikes by bringing in “breakbreakers” using third-party gig-work apps.
Early morning pickets have led to noise complaints from guests and there have been reports of passersby throwing eggs and pouring cups of pee at picket workers.
