After nearly nine months of walkouts, protests and picket lines, union workers at 34 Southern California hotels will begin voting Thursday, March 21 to ratify tentative labor agreements with the hotels.
Ratification results and terms of the labor contracts should be announced Monday, March 25 by Unite Here Local 11.
The workers are among some 15,000 striking cooks, housekeepers, dishwashers and others at more than 60 Southland hotels who have staged protests over low wages and inhumane workloads.
Coordinated Bargaining Group, which represents the hotels, said the union’s delay in ratifications has cost workers pay hikes many could have seen months ago.
CGB also notes that hotel walkouts, which began July 1, 2023, have longer than the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes combined.
Like myriad other Southern California labor protests, Unite Here has been calling for substantial raises, specifically an immediate $5 pay hike for all employees, in addition to affordable health insurance, a better pension plan and “humane workloads.”
Epicenter of labor protests
The region has emerged as ground zero for labor activity, with employees in fast food, healthcare, retail, shipping and the airline industry flexing their muscles through strikes, picket lines and protests over wages, staffing and workplace conditions.
In February, Starbucks baristas in Seal Beach filed for a union election, which is still pending.
Flight attendants picketed Los Angeles International Airport and John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana for higher wages and better working conditions, and hundreds of fast-food workers rallied in Los Angeles to recruit employees into the newly created California Fast Food Workers Union, which is aimed at ensuring adequate wages, increasing work hours and boosting workplace protections.
The minimum wage for businesses with 26 or more workers in unincorporated LA County is rising to $17.28 an hour on July 1. Orange County’s wage floor is $16, the…
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