Three more Los Angeles-area hotels have reached tentative labor agreements with their workers, but employees at 15 other hotels could still stage a strike if agreements aren’t hammered out soon.
The workers are represented by Unite Here Local 11.
Loews Hollywood Hotel, Beverly Hilton, and Sheraton Universal City reached tentative labor agreements late Thursday. That came on the heels of similar agreements announced earlier this week at J.W. Marriott/Ritz-Carlton L.A. Live, Courtyard by Marriott Los Angeles L.A. Live, SLS Beverly Hills, W Hollywood, W Westwood, and the Sheraton Grand Los Angeles.
That brings to nine the number of hotels that are in the process of settling contracts and will no longer be at risk of work stoppages. The settlement is especially significant for the Beverly Hilton, which will host next month’s Golden Globe Awards.
“We are extremely happy to announce that a strike has been averted at the Beverly Hilton and eight other L.A. hotels,” Kurt Petersen, Co-President of Unite Here Local 11, said in a statement. “These contracts will add to the local economy and keep thousands of hospitality workers out of poverty.”
Unite Here has been in negotiations with 24 hotels in L.A. and Orange County that employ 7,500 workers. An estimated 3,000 thousand employees are represented by the union in the nine hotels that have now reached tentative agreements. Workers were slated to ratify most of the contracts on Friday, Dec. 21.
A list of the 24 hotels can be found at http://www.unitehere11.org/hotelguide/#guide.
The unionized employees have been pushing a list of demands that includes boosting their pay to $25 an hour. They are also asking for more affordable healthcare, the implementation of panic buttons, increases to pensions and stronger protections for immigrants. Negotiations have been underway since Nov. 20.
Unite Here Local 11 represents more than 30,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona. Its members work in hotels, restaurants, universities, convention centers and airports.
Source: “Los Angeles” – Google News