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Rally Launches Hotel Worker Campaign
LAX hotels are called upon to help create better jobs, strengthen tourism industry
Our Weekly - February 16, 2004
By Dennis Freeman
More than 500 hotel workers, community and religious leaders, elected officials and residents gathered for a rally last week, calling on the LAX hotel industry to join them in a major initiative to create better jobs and a stronger tourism market near LAX.
Led by “Campaign for a New Century" a local organization comprised of coalition leaders, the demonstration was held in light of seeking higher job standards for thousands of hotel workers on Century Boulevard.
There was also a call for more city investment in the LAX tourism industry and a central role for adjacent communities affected by problems of poverty, crime and overcrowding.
Besides improving wages and benefits of hotel workers along Century Blvd, the group wants to see improvements to the blighted thoroughfare someplace attractive enough where tourists can wine and shop.
As it stands, within a five minute drive from the airport, Century Blvd. and its surrounding neighborhoods are festered with prostitution, felonious crimes occur frequently and the working poor are resolved to living in poverty.
Those backing labor improvement for the workers believe that one problem is tied to the rest and that better working conditions would result in a more quality of living. Tourism would thrive, which would result in an economic surplus for the cities of Inglewood, Lennox and Hawthorne.
This would only bring a business boom to the luxurious hotels that line Century Blv.d. such as the LAX Hilton, LAX Westin and the Four Points Sheraton LAX. Community leaders asked the hotel industry to join in the fight with them.
“We believe that a real partnership between workers, the community, the hotel industry and the city is possible,” said Danny Tabor, a former Inglewood City Councilmember and community activist. “We are hopeful that the hotels and the city will join with workers and the community in creating a Plan for a New Century. Together we can improve conditions for our families, our communities and the tourism industry.”
Coalition leaders are circulating a petition calling for a "Plan for a New Century," and expect to gather thousands of signatures in the coming weeks. The petitions will be delivered to city officials, who will be asked to consider a public policy proposal to address conditions in the Century Corridor.
A report by the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, which documents conditions in the Century Corridor, notes that Century hotel workers earn far less than their counterparts in the rest of L.A. County.
Their wages are also less than their peers that live in nearby communities of Lennox, Inglewood and Hawthorne, where a large number of these workers live, suffer high rates of poverty, crime and overcrowding.
According to the report, one in four residents in these communities lives below the federal poverty line, a measure of extreme poverty, while more than 40 percent of children come from poor households. Median household income is 25 percent lower than in L.A. County as a whole.
High poverty and low incomes have translated into severe social problems for those who live in these communities.
The violent crime rate in the area is five times higher than that of L.A. County as a whole. In all three communities, the percentage of overcrowded homes is higher than in the rest of L.A. County, and in Lennox it is eight times higher.
“It’s been neglected,” said Danny Feingold, communications director for the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy. “This campaign is about trying to revitalize the whole area. The residents...They want to see a public policy approved to address these issues.”
At the heart of this problem is the plight of the hotel workers, who are part of a broader and national issue: Improvement in labor standards for hospitality workers. That issue will take center stage this week as Sen. John Edwards and actor Danny Glover take part in a cross-country tour, addressing the issue.
Edwards, Glover and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa are scheduled to participate in a rally in downtown Los Angeles today to help promote the “Hotel Workers Rising” campaign.
There’s national campaign to improve the standards in the hospitality industry across the country,” said Feingold. “One of the issues to brought up is the lack of hiring of African Americans. They have to diversify their workforce.”
Religious leaders from nearby communities have joined the coalition, citing the social consequences of the poverty generated by the industry.
“All of us desire a better life, a better community in which to live and work,” said Reverend J.D. Webster, pastor at Westchester Christian Church. “I am signing this petition because I want to make this happen.”
The report also finds that the City of Los Angeles has invested less in the tourism industry as a proportion of total economic output than have other comparable cities, despite the fact that tourism ranks as the region's fourth-largest industry.
“We see the problem as a lack of investment,” said Kurt Petersen, organizing director at UNITE HERE Local 11. “Century Boulevard is home to the largest concentration of hotel rooms in the city. But the city has failed to invest in the area's tourism industry. The hotels also have failed to invest in their 3,500 workers, many of whom live in the community. The poverty wages workers receive contribute to a vicious cycle of low-wage jobs, disinvestment and poverty.”
Regla Soto, a housekeeper at the LAX Westin Hotel, said the hotel industry should join up with workers in improving the conditions.
“We know the hotels can do better,” Soto said. “We know that they can pay us enough to support our families in dignity. We are proud of our work and we want the hotels to do well. That's why we are not only asking the hotels to invest in us, but for the city to invest in the hotels.”
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For over 20 years, Isabel “Segunda” Brentner has worked at the LAX Hilton, keeping her focus on her family and her job. “My priorities [were] to help my family,” says Brentner, who, along with raising her own children, cared for both her father and grandmother when they were ill. 
Enedina Alvarez, a 54-year-old single parent, says she must be both mother and father to her teenage children. Yet, with two jobs, she has barely enough money to house, feed and clothe them—and precious little time to spend with them. Although she receives health insurance through her job, she cannot afford to insure her children. Alvarez says, “I pray to God that my kids do not get sick because I cannot pay the medical bills.” 
Nearly all hotel housekeepers are women. The majority are women of color and immigrants.
