Hospitality Workers Reached 98% Vote, Ratifying New Contract’s Increased Pay and Fair Workload Provisions

By Moon Harper

Mar 26, 2024 06:15 AM EDT

The union announced Monday that thousands of hospitality workers in Southern California have ratified a new contract with 34 hotels following multiple strikes since the summer.

Series of Summer Strikes

Workers picketed major Southern California hotels following a walkout over the July Fourth weekend, seeking improved pay and benefits. The strike involved various hotel staff in Los Angeles and Orange counties during peak summer tourism, and employers criticized the union's negotiation efforts.

Unite Here Local 11 authorized the walkout, seeking higher wages, improved health care benefits, increased pension contributions, and lighter workloads, which impacted approximately half of the 32,000 hospitality workers represented by the Southern California and Arizona union.

New Ratified Contracts Benefiting Hospitality Workers

Workers secured higher wages, augmented employer pension contributions, and workload assurances in a contract endorsed by 98% of voters. The agreement extends until Jan. 15, 2028, but negotiations continue with 30 other hotels, Unite Here Local 11 reported.

The contract promises wage increases of $10 per hour for room attendants, cooks, and other non-tipped workers, totaling a 40% to 50% rise over the agreement's duration. According to the union, half of the increment will be allocated for the first year.

By July 2027, room attendants in most hotels will earn $35 per hour, while senior cooks will earn $41 per hour. As outlined by the union, tipped workers will also benefit from enhancements such as double-time pay for holidays, vacation, and sick days, along with increased portions of service charges, and full-service restaurant staff will evenly divide automatic 20% gratuities.

The union emphasized that the contract preserves health insurance, ensuring workers pay a maximum of $20 monthly for full family coverage.

Turning Hotel Jobs into a Middle-Class Position

Kurt Petersen, co-president of Local 11, declared at a rally outside a downtown Los Angeles hotel, saying, "We have secured a transformative contract, turning hotel jobs into middle-class professional positions."

The coalition of hotels engaged in negotiations with the union embraced the agreement.

Strikes and Pickets for Liveable Wages

Pete Hillan, a California Hotel & Lodging Association spokesperson, expressed satisfaction with the ratification votes, highlighting the benefits of new contracts, including increased compensation, for hotel employees who have been waiting months.

Describing their requests as a struggle for livable wages in their work cities, over 10,000 employees across more excellent Los Angeles initiated rolling strikes at 52 hotels in July 2023. While workers participated in strikes and pickets and later resumed work, the union, representing 15,000 workers, noted that staff at certain hotels did not partake in the strikes.

Just before the strikes, the union secured a significant victory by reaching a tentative agreement with its largest employer, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in downtown Los Angeles, housing over 600 union workers. Subsequently, other hotels gradually resolved the strike actions.

Petersen also highlighted that the new contract expires just months before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Petersen affirmed their demand for a new deal that prioritizes family-sustaining jobs and affordable housing, emphasizing their readiness to take action if necessary, drawing cheers from the crowd.