Thousands of hotel workers walked out of the office in Southern California on Sunday. Negotiations between a trade union and dozens of hotels about better wages, health services and pensions, which have been ongoing since April, have so far yielded no results. Employees in more than 60 hotels and restaurants are affected, including cooks, cleaners and bellhops.
Protesters in red T-shirts lined up in front of many buildings, including luxury hotels in Los Angeles and Santa Monica. They waved signs reading “On Strike” and “En Huelga” in English and Spanish.
The Unite Here Local 11 union represents around 15,000 workers in Southern California. Many of them complain that they have to take on second jobs because of the rising cost of living and that they cannot afford rented accommodation close to their place of work.
A large hotel in Los Angeles with over 600 workers had reached a preliminary agreement with its employees on Thursday and was thus able to prevent a strike.
