LA Hotel Workers Demand Better Pay (And Other Headlines)

If you were downtown yesterday, it’s likely that you saw people cosplaying as their favorite anime and comic book characters. But you might also have seen hundreds of cooks, dishwashers, housekeepers and other hotel workers who traded in their uniforms for red shirts and joined the picket line in front of the InterContinental, Sheraton and other locations.

LA hotel workers demand better pay

Hotel workers across Southern California went on strike Sunday morning after the contract between UNITE HERE Local 11 and 61 hotels expired Friday. Workers are protesting for better pay, affordable health care and feasible workloads at their hotels. For example, one of their demands is an immediate $5 wage increase with $3 annual bumps through the remainder of the three-year contract, totaling an $11 increase.

Currently, hotel workers like kitchen steward Jackeline Reynoso make $25 per hour. The average for a hotel worker is $20-25 per hour.

“That is not enough in today’s society,” Reynoso said. “The entire economy is playing with us. It’s just crazy.”

She’s a single mom who is raising a young daughter. According to the Living Wage Calculator, she would need to make a living wage of $43.81 in order to comfortably raise her child in L.A.

Jackeline Reynoso works as a kitchen steward at the InterContinental Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

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Aaricka Washington

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LAist

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In recent months, we’ve seen several worker strikes, from academic workers at the University of California to school workers with L.A. Unified to Hollywood writers. But this one impacts tourists expecting a warm, welcoming stay at a hotel. With more and more conventions approaching this summer, business could be impacted.

At the picket lines in front of the InterContinental Hotel, people shouted “Si, Se Puede” while drivers passed by, honking their horns. Some strikers were out there as early as 6 a.m.

The workers I spoke with told me their wages were too low to fully support their families in L.A., especially with inflation and rent increases. The median gross rent in L.A. County from 2017 to 2021 was $1,641, according to the U.S. Census. In order to afford just a one-bedroom apartment, people need to make a living wage of $64,000, according to a report from the RAND Corporation.

Mark Laguitan is a food runner for InterContinental Hotels who makes $500-600 per paycheck. He has a wife and two sons.

“I only live in a studio-type apartment,” Laguitan said. “I have a car to pay and high insurance, plus the rent. Even with both of us working, we can’t afford it. We don’t know if we can buy food. I have a new baby. I don’t know if I can buy milk and diapers. We need this contract, it’s not only because we want it, it's because we need this and we deserve this contract to be signed by the owner.”

The Westin Bonaventure in Downtown L.A. did reach a tentative deal with the union Thursday, averting a strike there.

For more on what’s at stake and how the hotels have responded, LAist has this report. We will be updating the story as more news develops.

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The Top Three Tea-Sipping Trends

Chris "Spanto" Printup attends 1800 Tequila’s VIP dinner presented by the Los Angeles Rams and SoFi on February, 12 2022

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Presley Ann

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THREE — Trek across Los Angeles by foot 

As an Angeleno, you might find yourself driving across the city on any given day for an odd errand, or to hit the beach. But have you ever considered taking that journey by foot? Videographer Tucker O’Neill and his friend Wes Braumbaugh decided to tackle the Los Angeles sprawl, making a 40-mile trek from Pasadena to Santa Monica last Sunday. The walk took 14 hours, and O’Neill posted about his journey on Reddit.com, and garnered a lot of attention. My colleague Fiona Ng sat down with O’Neill and Braumbaugh for a Q&A about the journey.

TWO – The Lakers continue to make moves over the weekend 

The new NBA regular season won't tip off until the fall, but we've just entered the league's free agency period, where plenty of players (and money) move as teams look for ways to reshape their rosters. L.A.'s two teams have been busy. Looking to reel in their 18th championship, the Lakers have re-signed forward Rui Hachimura and guards D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves. The team is also adding guard Gabe Vincent, following his standout season with the Miami Heat. The Clippers are re-signing guard Russell Westbrook and acquiring forward K.J. Martin from the Houston Rockets in exchange for two future second-round draft picks.

ONE - Tributes to Spanto continue…

Following the tragic passing of Chris “Spanto” Printup, founder of L.A. streetwear brand Born x Raised, a mural has been raised on Hollywood and Highland in his honor. Local street artist Alex Ali Gonzalez painted the mural. Photographer Carlos Jaramillo, a former collaborator of Spanto’s, noted in a post that the mural was based on a photo that Spanto had once told him was his “favorite picture taken of him.” Born x Raised reposted Gonzalez’s mural to their Instagram stories, along with other tributes from Spanto’s fans and supporters. Spanto’s mural joins Gonzalez’s two other murals of deceased culinary legend Anthony Bourdain and rap music star Mac Miller on the wall.