LA hotel strikes: Travellers asked to respect the protests by hospitality staff

Unite Here! Local 11 hotel workers union join the picket line with WGA and SAG-AFTRA members in Los Angeles, United States. Photo / Rodin Eckenroth, Getty

An LA workers union is asking that travellers and guests “respect their strike” and avoid utilising hotel facilities while hospitality workers take industrial action.

Unionised workers from hotels across Los Angeles have been participating in rolling strike action since the Fourth of July weekend, protesting the pay and working conditions of major accommodation hubs.

This week, the strike entered the ‘third wave’, with another load of workers joining the picket line. There have been walkouts from staff at the Beverly Hilton and the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills. The Unite Here Local 11 union says that workers from 43 different hotels have participated in the rolling strikes, though workers from up to 60 sites are authorised to take strike action.

Cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, servers, bellmen and desk agents are among the crucial staff participating in the industrial action. This could have an impact on hotel guests, who might not see the same level of service they were expecting, or have paid for.

The union is demanding that workers receive an immediate hourly wage increase of US$5 ($8) in their new contracts and then a boost of $3 ($4.85) for each year of the 3-year agreement. The workers have also raised issues related to affordable family healthcare, pension and a ‘humane’ workload.

Striking workers have also highlighted the issues of affordability of living in Los Angeles, close to the workplace. Jovanu Ramirez, a hotel cook said, “It is morally wrong that I work 16 hours a day in our most prosperous industry but cannot afford to live in Los Angeles.”

The strike was first authorised on June 8 and the union is announcing walkouts as they occur.

There have been several waves of strikes in the tourism industry over the summer in the northern hemisphere, as airport workers, security guards and tourism vendors have stopped work to protest both pay and working conditions.

Those travel industry strikes aren’t just limited to international destinations - earlier this month unionised Auckland bus drivers threatened to turn off their ticket machines due to pay disputes.

Through the strikes in LA, the hotel workers have also joined the action with the Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild, creating a cross-industry picket line. Only one hotel, the Westin Bonaventure has succeeded in negotiations - a historic agreement with the workers came at the end of June, before the strikes began.