One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
SoCal Hotel Strike Reaches Its Second Wave
About 150 hotel workers marched around in a loop in front of InterContinental Hotels downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, July 2.
(
Aaricka Washington
/
LAist
)
Topline:
Thousands of unionized hotel workers walked off the job today, marking a second wave of strikes.
Why now: Monday's walkouts are affecting eight hotels near LAX. Kurt Petersen, co-president of their union, Unite Here Local 11, says, "We decided that we would be strategic in how we struck. Fourth of July weekend we decided the busiest areas were downtown because of the anime convention. The Fourth of July holiday Santa Monica was booming and so now we're rolling into another area that has an uptick in business where our members are ready."
Are you here in LA on holiday? Better not be at the Holiday Inn LAX because those workers are ON STRIKE. #SoCalHotelStrike pic.twitter.com/7XVmoPjUBl
— UNITE HERE Local 11 (@UNITEHERE11) July 10, 2023
This comes after the hotel workers took a pause last week to go back to work.
Why it matters: Unite Here Local 11 represents 32,000 hotel workers, including cooks, housekeepers and dishwashers. Unionized workers from 60 area hotels are demanding an immediate $5 an hour raise with raises totaling $11 in 3 years. Other requests include a hospitality workforce housing fund, affordable health care and manageable staffing workloads.
The backstory: Their contract expired June 30 and negotiations between hotel employers and the union have been going on since April.
Sponsored message
Go deeper: LA's rent crisis pushes workers to the picket line.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
