Articles from UNITE HERE Local 11

UNITE HERE Local 11, together with the University of California at Irvine’s Law and Organizing Clinic, has filed a complaint calling on the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Contract Administration (BCA) and Human Rights Department to launch a full investigation into Flying Food Group, an airline catering company operating at Los Angeles International Airport, following allegations that the company retaliated against workers who reported sexual harassment and discrimination.

As the Santa Monica City Council considers the future of the soon-to-close airport, new survey results reveal that a majority of local voters support transforming the 191-acre site into a mix of affordable housing and parkland.

UNITE HERE Local 11 sent a letter to Jamaica Bay Inn investors regarding the ongoing labor dispute at the Marina Del Rey property, which is operated by Pacifica Hotels.

UNITE HERE Local 11 Co-President Kurt Petersen wrote to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, California Franchise Tax Board Executive Officer Selvi Stanislaus and California Franchise Tax Board Chair and California Controller Malia Cohen on October 16, 2024 calling for the agencies to investigate whether Real Estate Investment Trusts (“REITs”) Ashford Hospitality Trust (“AHT”) and Braemar Hotels and Resorts (“BHR”) are violating IRS provisions that provide them with lucrative tax breaks on their corporate income.

As the Jewish community prepares for holiest period of the Jewish calendar in the coming weeks, over eighty leaders in the Jewish community have signed a pledge calling for a boycott of the Remington Hospitality-operated Cameo Beverly Hills Hotel and Marriott Beverly Hills, two hotels located in the heart of Pico-Robertson, over labor issues. The signatories include prominent leaders like Paul Koretz, rabbis, Jewish communal leaders and community members; and congregations and organizations like Boyle Heights Chavurah, Congregation Or Hamidbar, the national Jewish Labor Committee, the Jewish Liberation Fund, Keeping It Sacred, and Nefesh LA.

Over 80 elected officials and political professionals including statewide officials like Betty Yee, Fiona Ma, Tony Thurmond, and Christine Pelosi joined the boycott of two Remington hotels, Cameo Beverly Hills and Beverly Hills Marriott.

On September 3, 2024, UNITE HERE Local 11 sent a letter to Montgomery Bennett, the Founder, Chairman, & Chief Executive Officer of Ashford Inc.; Founder and Chairman of Braemar Hotels & Resorts; and Founder and Chairman of Ashford Hospitality Trust and Sloan Dean, the Chief Executive Officer of Remington Hospitality, regarding the ongoing labor disputes at the Cameo Beverly Hills and the Marriott Beverly Hills.

On the eve of Labor Day, UNITE HERE Local 11 notched another victory in the nation’s largest hotel strike. Workers at the Westin Long Beach unanimously ratified their new contract. Under the new agreement, workers will receive an immediate $5 an hour raise and another $6.25 an hour over 3.5 years, amounting to total wage increases of $11.25 an hour, with wages increasing by 60% during the contract. The contract will expire on January 15, 2028, months before the Olympics arrive in Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Tamarack Capital Partners and DiNapoli Capital Partners sold the 110-room Hotel Teatro in Denver for $35.5 million ($322,727 per room) to RLJ Lodging Trusti after reportedly spending a combined $6 million to renovate the property’s restaurant in 2014 and rooms in 2018.ii

Last week, a housekeeping worker at Cameo Beverly Hills, which is located in the city of Los Angeles, filed a complaint with the California Labor Commissioner alleging that the company has failed to pay workers for significant work they have performed “off the clock” and that workers have not been provided legally required rest breaks. The Cameo Beverly Hills is owned by Braemar Hotels & Resorts and operated by Remington.

Investors should be aware of issues regarding the Westin Long Beach hotel, owned by real estate private equity firm Rockpoint, that present potential Environmental, Social and Governance risks. Hotel workers at the Rockpoint-owned hotel concerned for their health and safety have submitted a complaint to Cal/OSHA.

Leadership from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and National Organization for Women - Hollywood Chapter sent a letter this week to Aimbridge’s CEO Craig Smith to raise concerns about women workers who have brought forward allegations of sexual harassment and ineffective management at Aimbridge-operated properties in Southern California.

Following the Grand Prix of Long Beach, the Hotel Maya Long Beach has signed a tentative contract agreement. In the past week, the Hyatt Place Pasadena, Proper Santa Monica, Proper Downtown Los Angeles, Westdrift Manhattan Beach, Hotel June West LA, and Alsace Hotel also signed the historic accord.

Dozens of workers at the Hampton Inn & Suites Santa Monica and Courtyard Santa Monica–hotels operated by Aimbridge Hospitality–walked out on strike this morning. The hotel workers' union also submitted a letter today to the Santa Monica City Attorney, alleging that the Hampton Inn Santa Monica may not be in compliance with the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance, which was passed by the City of Santa Monica in 2019. In particular, the letter alleges that the hotel regularly does not provide panic buttons to housekeepers, and that the hotel may not have provided sufficient training or other notice of workers' rights required by the Ordinance. A primary purpose of this ordinance is to help protect workers from sexual assault in the workplace.

Hundreds of workers at hotels operated by Aimbridge Hospitality across the Los Angeles area who have been waging a campaign for living wages, dignified conditions, and protections against sexual harassment walked out on strike this morning. Through strikes and an “occupy” action near LAX, Aimbridge workers are seeking to send a message that Aimbridge’s response to sexual harassment allegations will not suffice and that they want respect and a fair contract. Earlier this year, workers launched a boycott of the controversial hotel operator, which they have dubbed "Shamebridge."

Today, a laid-off cook, Maria Ibarra, filed a class action lawsuit alleging violations of Los Angeles’s Hotel Worker Retention Ordinance at the Hotel Figueroa where more than a hundred workers have lost their jobs.

The fifth woman in less than a month has broken her silence by alleging she experienced sexual harassment working at an Aimbridge-operated hotel.

Silicon Valley-based Hans Laser Corp., the U.S. subsidiary of China-based manufacturer Han's Laser Technology Group Co., which makes laser cutting and laser welding machinery, last year announced plans for a $60 million U.S. expansion. The firm has locations in San Jose, California and Katy, Texas and purchased 262 acres at 12429 W. Kimbro Road in the Austin suburb of Manor, Texas in April 2023.

UNITE HERE Local 11 and dozens of workers and clergy leaders from CLUE held a press conference calling for a boycott of the Hotel Figueroa and The Botanical Group, which is the newest restaurant operator, on Thursday. The worker-called boycott marks a significant escalation in a months-long labor dispute that began last July.

Days before the Spirit Awards take place in Santa Monica, prominent women leaders from CLUE, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Program for Torture Victims joined silence breakers to rally and picket outside the Hampton Inn Santa Monica. They expressed support for hotel worker Maritza Villeda, who submitted a complaint to the California Civil Rights Department alleging that her employer, the Aimbridge Hospitality-operated Hampton Inn Santa Monica, failed to respond properly to her complaints of sexual harassment by a coworker and instead terminated her.

Nearly a dozen elected leaders have sent a letter to Hotel Maya leadership and owner-operator Ensemble expressing concern over incidents of violence against Maya workers who were peacefully protesting for improved working conditions, benefits and wages.

Investors should be aware of issues regarding the W Hollywood hotel and its Sky Terrace restaurant, owned by Oaktree Capital Management and Trinity Investments, that present potential Environmental, Social and Governance risks. Over the past few months, some workers have submitted a complaint to Cal/OSHA reporting repeated sightings of vermin in food-storage or food-service areas, while other workers filed federal unfair labor practice charges alleging unlawful retaliation, interrogation, and other practices.

The Carpenters pension fund-owned Hyatt Regency LAX may be at risk of being unable to obtain an operating license required by the Los Angeles Responsible Hotels Ordinance. The hospitality workers’ union, UNITE HERE Local 11, has sent a letter to the Los Angeles Police Commission to inform it of allegations of worker rights violations at the Hyatt Regency LAX, which is owned by the Southwest Carpenters Pension Fund.

Blackstone’s planned acquisition of the single-family rental company Tricon Residential will further exacerbate the housing affordability crisis and harm tenants and workers, according to UNITE HERE Local 11, AFSCME Local 3299, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP).

On the first day of the American Lodging and Investment Summit, UNITE HERE Local 11 members announced a boycott of Aimbridge Hospitality, the largest third-party hotel operator in the world, until the company agrees to sign a fair contract at its union properties in Southern California.

For the first time since the law’s passage late last year, a hotel operator’s alleged conduct may put at risk its ability to obtain a license required by the Los Angeles Responsible Hotels Ordinance. The hospitality workers’ union, UNITE HERE Local 11, has sent letters to the Los Angeles Police Commission to inform it of allegations of worker rights abuses at two hotels operated by Aimbridge Hospitality: Holiday Inn LAX and the San Pedro DoubleTree. The Police Commission is responsible for considering license applications from hotel operators under the Ordinance’s new hotel permitting scheme. Permits may be denied based on findings of violations of worker rights.

On the first day of the American Lodging and Investment Summit, UNITE HERE Local 11 members announced a boycott of Aimbridge Hospitality, the largest third-party hotel operator in the world, until the company agrees to sign a fair contract at its union properties in Southern California. The boycott calls for tourists and visitors to choose alternatives for any travel and events at the following properties:

More than 1700 housekeepers, cooks, dishwashers, servers, and front desk workers at nine Marriott hotels – Irvine Marriott, W Hotel Westwood, SLS Beverly Hills, Westin LAX, Sheraton Grand DTLA, JW Marriott LA Live, Ritz-Carlton LA Live, Courtyard Marriott DTLA, and Residence Inn DTLA – and Hilton Irvine are the latest to sign tentative agreements. The W Hollywood is the lone Marriott not included because of outstanding contract issues there.

Pressure is mounting against Aimbridge Hospitality and its private equity owner Advent International regarding escalating labor disputes at hotels in Southern California as UNITE HERE Local 11, the union for hospitality workers in Southern California, announced that Aimbridge hospitality faces a strike deadline of this upcoming Saturday to join its peer hotels in resolving labor disputes that have disrupted the Southern California hospitality industry since July.

Last week, hundreds of workers employed by PAI Partners-owned concessionaire, Areas USA, walked out on strike at Los Angeles International Airport, following workers’ first strike on November 21. PAI Partners is a private equity investment firm based in Paris, France.

After District Attorney George Gascon and the California Labor Commissioner announced a joint investigation into the alleged exploitation of unhoused refugees by hotels across Los Angeles County, UNITE HERE Local 11 has filed a federal unfair labor practice charge alleging that a Holiday Inn LAX manager warned the same unhoused workers not to tell anyone about their pay or other working conditions.

UNITE HERE Local 11 and Le Merigot Santa Monica reached a tentative agreement after months of negotiations, making it the first hotel in Santa Monica to do so during a citywide hotel sector labor dispute that has been marked by contentious strikes and picket lines. Le Merigot Santa Monica is the fifth hotel in the broader Los Angeles area to sign an agreement in this round of contract negotiations.

A day before the L.A. Times B2B Publishing Inspirational Women & Leadership Awards at the Beverly Hilton on November 7th, A-list SAG-AFTRA members like Ashley Tisdale and Uzo Aduba canceled their participation in the “The Art of the Hollywood Side Hustle” to respect the boycott of the Beverly Hilton and stand with its picketing workers.

After a historic summer of strikes, UNITE HERE Local 11 and Loews Hollywood have reached a tentative agreement. The Loews Hollywood joins the Westin Bonaventure and the historic Biltmore Los Angeles in signing an agreement with their workers.

Today, a longtime housekeeper at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel San Pedro filed a class action lawsuit against the hotel alleging violations of the Los Angeles Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance (“Ordinance”), which the City of Los Angeles adopted in June 2022. While similar ordinances have passed in Irvine, Seattle, Oakland, Santa Monica, Emeryville, Glendale, West Hollywood, and Long Beach, this is the first lawsuit to be brought under the Los Angeles Ordinance. The workers are represented by Lauren Teukolsky of Teukolsky Law and Zoe Tucker of UNITE HERE Local 11.

Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Hotel Bel-Air to pay potentially tens of millions of dollars to over a hundred of its former employees.

Dozens of hospitality workers who work at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott, owned by the University of California Retirement System, and other hotels rallied outside and testified at the UC Regents meeting in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Faith community leaders in Long Beach have announced plans for a “truth commission” concerning a violent episode that took place at the Maya Hotel on August 5 as striking workers sought to peacefully picket for better wages and conditions.

Employees allege that agents of the company “have unlawfully interrogated workers about union activities; surveilled union activists; and threatened to discipline and retaliate against workers should they strike with the Union” after workers unanimously voted on August 15 to authorize a strike.

California State Treasurer Fiona Ma and Congresswoman Katie Porter are among 48 California elected leaders who signed a letter to University of California Chief Investment Officer Jagdeep Singh Bachher, registering concern over developments at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott. The hotel is owned by the UC Retirement System:

Today, UNITE HERE Local 11 members, along with representatives from future citywide conventions and events, announced a boycott of Los Angeles, until the hotel industry pays a living wage and puts an end to violence against its striking members. The workers’ call for conventions to stay away from Los Angeles marks a major escalation in the largest hotel worker strike in U.S. history.

The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement issued a citation totaling $1.2 million to Flying Food Group, alleging that the airline catering company failed to properly recall workers to their former positions at its Inglewood and San Francisco facilities, in violation of state law SB-93.

Hotel workers at the Hotel Maya in Long Beach, Laguna Cliffs Marriott Dana Point, and Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica are calling for a boycott because of management’s use or condoning of violence during the largest hotel strike in U.S. history. The boycott announcement comes as conventions, such as the American Political Science Association, arrive in the region.

California unions announced their pledge of financial support for hotel workers who have been leading the largest wave of hotel strikes in modern history. Collectively, the unions pledging support represent 2.1 million workers.

Tourism workers spoke to the County Board of Supervisors yesterday in support of a motion authored by Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Hilda Solis to authorize County Counsel to draft a hotel worker protection ordinance that would protect housekeepers against sexual assault at hotels located in Marina Del Rey and other unincorporated areas of LA County. The law will mirror legislation passed in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Irvine, Glendale and Santa Monica.

Citing Los Angeles’ housing crisis, Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, in a July 25, 2023, letter to Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso, has announced support for an immediate $30 an hour minimum wage for hotel and airport workers.

Today, UNITE HERE Local 11 filed an initiative in the City of Beverly Hills that would require hotels to pay their workers $30 an hour. Citing the housing crisis, the union is demanding employers pay a living wage so that workers can afford to live near where they work. The proposed law would be the highest minimum wage in the country.

Today, UNITE HERE Local 11 filed an initiative in Santa Monica that would require hotels to pay their workers $30 an hour. Citing the housing crisis, the union is demanding employers pay a living wage so that workers can afford to live near where they work. The proposed law would be the highest minimum wage in the country.

Today, a longtime housekeeper at the Hilton Irvine filed a class action lawsuit against the hotel alleging violations of the Irvine Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance (“Ordinance”), which the City of Irvine adopted in November 2022. While similar ordinances have passed in Los Angeles, Seattle, Oakland, Santa Monica, Emeryville, Glendale, West Hollywood, and Long Beach, this is the first lawsuit to be brought under the Irvine Ordinance. The workers are represented by Lauren Teukolsky of Teukolsky Law and Zoe Tucker of UNITE HERE Local 11.

Hotel workers in Culver City have filed an initiative that will guarantee a $25 per hour minimum wage and protect room attendants against sexual assault. Similar legislation has already been passed in other California cities, including Los Angeles, Irvine, and Santa Monica, and Long Beach.

Last week, a room attendant at the Andaz West Hollywood, a Hyatt property, filed a class-action lawsuit against the hotel alleging violations of the West Hollywood Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance (“Ordinance”), which the West Hollywood City Council signed into law in August 2021. While similar ordinances have passed in Los Angeles, Seattle, Oakland, Santa Monica, Emeryville, Glendale, Long Beach, and recently Irvine, this is the first lawsuit to be brought under the West Hollywood “Housekeepers’ Bill of Rights” law. The workers are represented by Lauren Teukolsky of Teukolsky Law.

The City of Los Angeles’ Bureau of Contract Administration is investigating a living wage complaint against Flying Food Group (FFG). The most recent complaint alleges that FFG is failing to provide a “total economic package” of $23.81 to hundreds of its workers. If true, the estimated value of the violations is tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of workers, with damages continuing to accrue. The Living Wage Ordinance (LWO) requires employers to pay a $18.04 minimum, with an additional healthcare portion of the wage set to $5.77 per hour.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Curren Price rallied and announced his pledge of the boycott launched by UNITE HERE Local 11 and CLUE last week against the Tommie and Thompson Hotels in Hollywood.

Hospitality union UNITE HERE Local 11 has sent a letter to the owners and operator of the Tommie and Thompson Hotels in Hollywood warning that the 5% service fee charged by at least five related restaurants may violate LA’s service charge laws and threatening to take legal action on behalf of employees harmed by the practice. Last month, the Union also called on the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office to investigate these potential violations.

Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice joined UNITE HERE Local 11 today in calls for a boycott of the ritzy properties in the heart of Hollywood.

Today, Terranea Resort Housekeepers and their community allies launched a ballot initiative, the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance, that would require hotels to provide fair compensation to hotel housekeepers and ensure legal protections for housekeepers from threatening conduct from guests when they work alone in guest rooms. The ordinance would require:

Yesterday, UNITE HERE Local 11 sent a letter to Machine Investment Group, Ten Five Hospitality, Taconic Capital, and Miramar Capital, reminding those investors and the operator of the Tommie and Thompson Hotels in Hollywood, California, of their predecessor’s commitment to union neutrality at those hotels.

Today, room attendants at the Hyatt Regency filed a class-action lawsuit against their employer alleging violations of the Long Beach Hotel Working Conditions Initiative (“Initiative”), which voters passed into law in November 2018. While similar ordinances have passed in Los Angeles, Seattle, Oakland, Santa Monica, Emeryville, Glendale, West Hollywood, and recently Irvine, this is the first lawsuit to be brought under one of these “Housekeepers’ Bill of Rights” laws. The workers are represented by Lauren Teukolsky of Teukolsky Law and Zoe Tucker of UNITE HERE Local 11.

Taconic Capital and Machine Investment Group scheduled UCC foreclosure auctions for the Tommie Hollywood and Thompson Hollywood on December 21, 2022. These auctions were then delayed to January 21, 2023, and we now understand that they may have been further delayed to February.

As two of Relevant Group’s hotels financed through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program face UCC foreclosure auctions on December 21, CARECEN-LA and ten other immigration groups, clergy and community allies wrote to Relevant Group, hotel lenders Machine Investment Group and Taconic Capital and auction broker Eastdil Secured questioning the basis of the firm’s job creation promises. Read their letter here.

Days before the Tommie and Thompson hotels are to be sold at auction, former hotel workers and their allies rallied outside the hotels to speak out against mistreatment and disrespect of workers and guests alike in the heart of Hollywood.

This week, UNITE HERE Local 11 filed a federal unfair labor practice charge alleging that former Thompson Hollywood hotel workers were unjustly fired after engaging in concerted protected labor activity at the hotel. One of the fired workers, Jae Redlich, and a former worker at the Thompson hotel, Earl Wintron, are traveling to the Missouri Local Government Employees Retirement (LAGERS) pension fund meeting this Friday to share their experiences of mistreatment, racial discrimination, sexual harassment and disrespect at the hotel.

Following stagnant negotiations with Pomona College, at 6 am Friday morning, dozens of dining hall workers at Pomona College walked out on strike as Family Weekend begins.

Yesterday, over 90% of dining hall workers at Pomona College voted to authorize a strike. The negotiating committee could call a strike at any moment. Pomona will host Family Weekend on October 28 and 29.

UNITE HERE Local 11, the airline catering workers’ union, joined by a coalition of environmental organizations, held a press conference at Los Angeles International Airport Terminal 4 Wednesday, where LSG Sky Chefs’ largest client, American Airlines, operates.

On September 14, the Escondido City Council voted unanimously to award a five-year contract for management and operation of the Reidy Creek Golf Course to Escondido Golf, LLC, an affiliate of Petaluma-based CourseCo, Inc. JC Resorts operated the course since its opening in 2002, but according to a City of Escondido staff report, the property failed to achieve levels of income that would have enabled it to pay back or subsidize tax-exempt Lease Revenue bonds issued by the City in April 2001 for the construction of the golf course, forcing the Escondido General Fund to make debt service payments that average about $361,000 per year.

Last week a coalition of environmental organizations and allies called out Terranea Resort owners JC Resorts and Lowe for throwing millions at anti-environment politicians and other conservative causes.

The Morrison Hotel redevelopment project is subject to a Memorandum of Agreement between UNITE HERE Local 11 and Relevant Group under which the hotel operator is obligated to take a neutral approach to the unionization of employees of the proposed hotel and three-meal-a-day restaurant and bar. The Agreement provides for a card-check recognition process, and allows either party to submit the collective bargaining agreement to binding arbitration if an agreement is not reached in the 120 days following the commencement of bargaining.

Today, UNITE HERE Local 11, the union of hospitality workers in Southern California, released a scorecard rating labor standards for employees at major soccer arenas in Los Angeles. This scorecard comes in advance of the Federation Internationale de Football Association’s (“FIFA”) planned June 16, 2022 announcement of the cities and stadiums it has selected for the 2026 World Cup.

Last week, in an unusually strong decision, a judge within the government agency tasked with enforcing federal labor laws found that The Daily Grill violated its duty to bargain in good faith with UNITE HERE Local 11, the union for hotel and restaurant workers in Southern California.

March 15, Congressman Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) sent a letter to the Small Business Administration (SBA) calling for vigilant oversight as $696 billion of the total $789 billion lent through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) phase has already been forgiven.

In a letter sent today to Casey Wasserman, Chair of LA 28, the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, UNITE HERE Local 11, the Los Angeles hospitality workers union, and human rights organizations Jewish World Watch and the Peace Project called on the Los Angeles Olympics Organizing Committee to refuse Airbnb’s sponsorship of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Despite demands from 190 human rights organizations to drop its support for the Beijing Games1 and concern from elected officials from both political parties, Airbnb has remained a sponsor of the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. The United States2, Canadian House of Commons3, French Parliament4, United Kingdom House of Commons5 and human rights organizations6 all define the Chinese Communist Party’s human rights violations against the Muslim Uyghur population in the Uyghur Region as genocide.

Representative Lou Correa, who serves on the House Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, today wrote to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services asking the agency to investigate whether hotel developer Relevant Group is creating jobs as promised connected to funding it received from the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program.

On January 26, 2022, the five-member Escondido City Council unanimously authorized staff to issue a Request for Proposals (“RFP”) for the management of the Reidy Creek Golf Course and Concessions.

Save Iconic Architecture, a local non-profit organization, is seeking to nominate the historic Standard Hotel, originally designed by noted architect Herbert Kameon, as a designated cultural resource in the City of West Hollywood. The property is already designated as a historic resource on the California Register of Historic Resources and as eligible for local resource nomination by the City of West Hollywood, requiring additional review under California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and limiting the size of any prospective digital billboards.