Thousands of hotel workers in Los Angeles, California went on strike Sunday morning demanding better pay and benefits, kicking off what is expected to be one of the largest hotel strikes in the United States in recent history.
Unite Here Local 11, which represents thousands of cooks, wait staff, dishwashers, waiters, bellboys and receptionists at hotels in Los Angeles and Orange County, California, said in a statement that union workers are struggling to pay the housing in cities where they do work and which have experienced job cuts during the Covid-19 pandemic at the same time that sector profits have soared.
A union spokesman said workers at hotels across the region, including the InterContinental and Hotel Indigo, walked off work on Sunday during a busy weekend leading up to the July 4 holiday.
IHG Hotels and Resorts, which operates InterContinental and Hotel Indigo, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The contracts expired on June 30 at 62 Southern California hotels, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Westin Bonaventure, the largest hotel in Los Angeles, reached a settlement with its employees with just one day to go, the union said.
The union group is seeking a housing fund for workers and is calling for better wages, health benefits, pensions and safer workloads, the statement said.
Ninety-six percent of hotel workers voted on June 8 to authorize the strike.
The Los Angeles area has seen other walkouts or threatened walkouts in recent months.
In the entertainment sector, Hollywood screenwriters quit in early May due to expiring union contracts. Actors belonging to the SAG-AFTRA union have temporarily avoided a shutdown, as the union and major studios agreed on Friday to continue talks until mid-July.
Source: Terra
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