L.A. Hotel Strike: Union Vows ‘Dirty Rooms and Nonstop Noise’
Hotel workers at the JW Marriott, Sheraton Grand, Hotel Figueroa and several other properties, primarily in downtown Los Angeles, walked off the job early Wednesday morning in an action timed to coincide with the start of the American Political Science Assn.’s annual conference.
It’s the latest wave of rolling strikes by Southern California hotel housekeepers, front desk workers, cooks and other employees that began nearly two months ago. In this latest round of walkouts, union members have walked out from 13 hotels.
The union representing striking hotel workers, Unite Here Local 11, last week called for a boycott of some 60 hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties that haven’t agreed to new labor contracts, urging that all conventions held in the Los Angeles area should “stay away from strike-ready hotels.” The union lists the hotels without contracts on its website and asks that people “not patronize” them.
Union officials condemned the leaders of a political science group that includes more than 11,000 academics as well as other political scientists for refusing the cancel their L.A. event despite ongoing hotel walkouts.
“Dirty rooms and nonstop noise will be the only amenities” for professors coming into town for the conference, said Kurt Petersen, co-president of Unite Here Local 11, in a Wednesday news release.
Earlier this summer Unite Here Local 11 had urged the academic association to cancel or move its conference — scheduled for Thursday through Sunday — to respect the strike. The group faced backlash after announcing on its website, that hundreds of panels originally scheduled to take place in the JW Marriott will be moved to the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Peter Dreier of Occidental College said, at a rally held by hotel workers in the last week, that the leadership was American Political Science Assn. had “run roughshod” over the wishes of many of its members. Dreier stated that academics had canceled plans to attend and predicted a low attendance.
Keith Grossman, an attorney with Hirschfeld Kraemer who represents a coalition of 44 hotels involved in talks with Unite Here Local 11, said the union’s call for a convention boycott will hurt the city and small businesses that depend on conventions.
“It defies logic that the union would ignore our offer to negotiate but would instead focus on pursuing its political goals directly hurting our employees’ current and future earnings and our local communities by trying to drive business away,” Grossman said in a Monday statement.
Grossman said the last negotiation session was held July 18 and “ended with the union refusing to engage” despite the coalition presenting “a solid” wage and benefits offer. He said that the hotel coalition wants Unite Here Local 11 back at the bargaining table following Labor Day.
In its proposal — which the union rejected — the hotel group offered an initial hourly pay raise of $2 that would go into effect following ratification of a new contract, and several subsequent raises amounting to a $5.50 per hour total increase by January 2027.
Striking hotel employees are asking for an immediate $5 increase in hourly wages, followed by a $3 raise each year following the initial three-year contract. This would amount to a total of $11 per worker.
The hotels downtown Los Angeles that have seen workers walk out include:
- Sheraton Grand Los Angeles, Financial District
- Biltmore Los Angeles, Financial District
- Courtyard Los Angeles L.A. Live, South Park
- E-Central South Park
- The Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles South Park
- Residence Inn Los Angeles L.A. Live, South Park
- Hotel Indigo, South Park
- JW Marriott South Park
- Hotel Figueroa, South Park
- Intercontinental Los Angeles Downtown, Metro Center
- DoubleTree By Hilton, Little Tokyo
- Downtown LA Proper Hotel South Park
- Fairmont Miramar, Santa Monica