Los Angeles-area hotel workers go on strike

STORY: Unite Here Local 11, which represents 15,000 workers at more than 60 major hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties, declared the strike a day after the workers' contract expired. It marks one of the largest strikes to hit the U.S. hospitality industry in recent years.

Hotel workers, including housekeepers, dishwashers, cooks, waiters, bellhops and front-desk agents, struggle to afford housing in cities where they work, and many were idled during the COVID-19 pandemic while industry profits soared, the union said in a statement.

An industry bargaining group representing more than 40 hotels accused the union of political posturing, pursuing the strike as an organizing tool and failing to negotiate in good faith.

Several thousand workers walked off the job starting Sunday morning at about a dozen hotels, and the numbers are expected to grow as the strike wears on, union spokesperson Maria Hernandez said.

Among the hotels targeted the first day, she said, were the InterContinental, Hotel Indigo, Millennium Biltmore and JW Marriott LA Live in downtown Los Angeles, as well as the Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica, the Sheraton Universal in Universal City and Laguna Cliffs Marriott in Dana Point.

The industry bargaining group said its hotels would remain open with management and non-union staff filling in for striking workers.