25th Southern California Hotel Seals Tentative Agreement
By Dolores Quintana
Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows, after six months marked by strikes and picket lines, has become the latest Southern California hotel to sign a tentative agreement with UNITE HERE Local 11.
This development brings the total number of hotels in Southern California that have entered into tentative agreements with the union to 25.
Liliana Hernandez, a Fairmont Miramar worker, and a housekeeper at the hotel for eleven years, expressed excitement and pride regarding the agreement, stating, “The last six months were challenging for us, but I am so grateful that the whole union stood behind me and my coworkers, and I’m proud of the leadership and solidarity. We hope other Santa Monica hotels follow the example of the Fairmont. Sí se puede.”
Upon ratification of the contract, Fairmont Miramar workers will benefit from the standards achieved in prior tentative agreements, including unprecedented wage increases aligned with the rising cost of housing, affordable and comprehensive family healthcare, humane workloads with safe staffing levels, improved pension increases to support dignified retirement, and language enhancements such as Equal Justice provisions that facilitate access to union jobs for formerly incarcerated individuals and unprecedented protections for immigrant workers.
UNITE HERE Local 11 co-president Kurt Petersen commended Fairmont Miramar for signing this historic agreement, emphasizing, “This victory once again demonstrates our members’ indomitable spirit and sends an unambiguous message to the remaining hotels that we will not stop fighting until we have won a living wage at all hotels.”
However, hotels operated by Aimbridge Hospitality, including the Hilton Pasadena, Blackstone-owned Aloft and Fairfield El Segundo, and Ensemble-operated Hotel Maya and Hyatt Place Pasadena, have yet to meet the new hotel contract standard. Notably, workers at the Hilton Pasadena and Hyatt Place Pasadena staged a walkout on the eve of the Rose Parade.
