Dive Brief:
- Union workers at the Westin Long Beach hotel in Long Beach, California, walked out on the job Saturday, days after the workers voted to authorize a strike, hospitality union Unite Here Local 11 announced in a release obtained by Hotel Dive.
- Workers said that the hotel has not yet signed a contract that would raise wages and enhance workplace conditions, similar to those already inked by more than 60 hotels in Southern California. Private equity firms Rockpoint and Highgate own the Westin Long Beach, and Highgate operates the hotel.
- The strike came nearly a year to the day after the largest hotel strike wave in modern U.S. history began in Southern California. While dozens of local hotels have reached contracts with striking workers since then, many remain in negotiations.
Dive Insight:
On July 2, room attendants, cooks, dishwashers, front desk agents, servers and other workers of Westin Long Beach voted to authorize a strike at the hotel. On July 6, they walked out.
The workers are pushing for a contract that ensures they “earn wages that keep pace with the soaring cost of housing, maintain affordable benefits, and receive reasonable workload assignments,” Unite Here Local 11 detailed in a separate release obtained by Hotel Dive.
Westin Long Beach has not yet signed a contract satisfactory to workers’ demands and has instead proposed “a second-class contract compared to what [Westin Long Beach workers’] peers have won,” Unite Here Local 11 Co-President Kurt Petersen said. “Workers won’t stand for it,” he added.
“I voted yes to strike because I deserve to make enough money to live near where I work,” Juana Melara, a room attendant of 10 years at Westin Long Beach, said in a statement. “We work in the same economy as the other hotels [that have reached agreements] and this is the contract all the other hotels have. We at the Westin Long Beach deserve it, too.”
At other hotels in the region, including the nearby Grand Prix of Long Beach and Hotel Maya Long Beach, contract agreements guaranteed workers raises of $5 an hour in the first year of their contract and 40% to 50% wage increases for non-tipped workers over the course of the agreements.
More than 40 hotels across the region have settled contracts since the multihotel strike began last July. Negotiations continue at others, however, including Embassy Suites Irvine, Hilton Garden Inn LAX/El Segundo, Hyatt Regency LAX and The L.A. Grand Hotel, according to Unite Here Local 11’s website.
Southern California is not the only region where hospitality labor disputes continue. Thousands of hotel workers across the country, including for major companies like Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt, are currently advocating for higher wages and improved working conditions.
U.S. hotels are projected to pay employees a record $123 billion in wages, salaries and other compensations in 2024, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association, though hoteliers are still having trouble filling roles.
