Earlier this morning, UNITE HERE Local 11 announced that the last four hotels that were under strike in Santa Monica have reached a settlement. The UNITE HERE Local 11 hotel strike is over in Santa Monica.
Hampton Inn Santa Monica, Courtyard Santa Monica, Viceroy Santa Monica, Le Méridien Delfina joined the Proper Hotel (which signed its agreement with the union earlier this week) and the Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows and Le Merigot Santa Monica which settled earlier this year.
The strike began last summer and has worn on the hotels, the workers, and residents.
“I am so proud of my coworkers for sticking together through this fight. It took grit, blood, sweat and tears, but we did it!” writes Patricia Ibañez, a UNITE HERE Local 11 leader and housekeeper at Le Méridien Delfina in a statement.
“I am excited to go back to my job after being suspended. The immense support I received from my coworkers and other community members inspired me to never give up. This is going to change my life.”
The details of the deal reflect those of the other agreements UNITE HERE has announced in recent weeks:
The new contract has the largest economic increases of any industry-wide contract in the last 30 years.
- $5.00 an hour raise in the first year; workers will have $10,400 more to pay for rent, to feed their families
- 40 to 50% wage increases for non tipped workers over the 4.5 year term of the agreement
- Most room attendants will earn $35.00 an hour by July 1, 2027
- Guaranteed pre-pandemic staffing levels and mandatory daily room cleaning
- One of the highest paid pension plans for service workers in nation
- 50 pages of improvements, including Juneteenth as a paid holiday, unprecedented language for the fair treatment of workers impacted by the criminal justice system and protections of immigrant rights.
The contract will expire January 15, 2028, just before the world turns its attention on Los Angeles for the XXXIV Olympiad.
Some credit for the union victory must go to the Santa Monica City Council, especially its progressive block of Gleam Davis, Caroline Torosis and Jesse Zwick, for supporting the union and resisting efforts by Mayor Phil Brock and Vice Mayor Lana Negrete to limit the hours that the unions could picket during their strike. The council’s show of solidarity led to two different efforts to pass new “noise ordinances” being so thoroughly rejected that it never even came up for a vote.
Unite Here! also announced a settlement with Four Points LAX this morning.
