Thousands of LA hotel workers strike as July 4 holiday begins

LOS ANGELES - Thousands of workers at hotels across Los Angeles County o cially walked off the job on Sunday, launching a labor strike demanding they receive higher wages and better benefits.

Maria Hernandez, a IBEW Local union organizer and spokesperson told reporters: “Thousands of cooks, servers, housekeepers, bellmen, front desk agents walked off the job in the largest hotel strike in our Local’s history.”

Nearly of the Unite Here Local membership had voted to walk-off the job as the current contract expired at :0 a.m. Saturday without progress in talks over the union’s demands for wage increases to offset the accelerated housing costs in Southern California.

The union also was asking for family healthcare and resta ng to bring up the workforce to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels.

The Westin Bonaventure Hotel Suites in downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) had reached a negotiated agreement with Unite Here Local this past Wednesday. The hotels impacted by the walk-out include The Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica, and in DTLA the Intercontinental, The Ritz Carlton and Millennium Biltmore.

Hotel o cials previously told reporters their facilities will remain open with management and other nonunion staff filling in the event that the union strike materialized.

BRODY LEVESQUE