Global Courant
Los Angeles City Council members Hugo Soto-Martínez and Nithya Raman and Councilman Wendy Carrillo were arrested Thursday while participating in a protest organized by Unite Here Local 11, which represents hospitality workers in Southern California.
At the protest, held near Los Angeles International Airport, hundreds of protesters filled Century Boulevard, and several were arrested after refusing to leave, said Maria Hernandez, a spokesperson for Unite Here Local 11.
The protest closed Century Boulevard in both directions between Sepulveda and the airport boulevards for hours before the roadway was reopened around 9 p.m., the airport tweeted.
“We were here to shed light on the issues facing working-class Angelenos,” Soto-Martínez said in a statement, “such as a single mother who works as a housekeeper and has to work 17 hours a day to afford housing. ”
The councilor is a former union organizer.
The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed the arrests of Martínez, Raman and Carrillo on suspicion of remaining with the demonstration after they were ordered to disperse, a felony.
According to Soto-Martínez counsel Josh Androsky, Soto-Martínez sat in the middle of Century Boulevard with other protesters, union members and clergy about an hour before his arrest.
His hands were tied by police and he was taken to a makeshift processing center a few blocks from the protest area, Androsky said.
About 20 protesters representing the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America were also arrested, Androsky said.
Soto-Martínez has been arrested several times for civil disobedience. According to her spokesperson Stella Stahl, this is Raman’s first arrest.
“It was honestly just a nice show of solidarity with the workers,” Hernandez said.
The demonstration was the latest event in the ongoing labor dispute between hotel workers and their employers.
Hotel workers in Southern California voted overwhelmingly on June 8 to authorize their leaders to call a strike if their employers did not agree to large wage increases in contract negotiations for 15,000 workers in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.
