Conference Center Near LAX Would Boost Funds

Worker Profiles

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. More

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.” More

Who Are Hotel Housekeepers?*

Nearly all hotel housekeepers are women. The majority are women of color and immigrants.

There are 1.3 million hotel workers in the U.S. and 280,000 in Canada, of whom approximately one quarter are housekeepers.

Hotel Housekeeper Work Is Dangerous Work

Hotel workers have a 40% higher injury rate (5.9%) than workers in the service sector (4.2%).

According to a recent study of company records covering thousands of employee injuries, hotel housekeepers face an injury rate of 10.4%, almost double the injury rate for non-housekeepers (5.6%).

Hotel housekeeper injuries are debilitating. Back injuries, housemaids' knee (bursitis), and shoulder pain can lead to permanent disability.

*UNITE HERE

Why We Need A

"PLAN FOR A
NEW CENTURY"

A new white paper calls on the city of Los Angeles and industry leaders to invest in the Century Corridor and its workforce. A Plan for a New Century will benefit workers, communities, hotels and the entire city. More

Conference Center Near LAX Would Boost Funds
Tourism Official Says Site Would Raise Room Rates and City Revenue, Which Could Improve Hotels' Working Conditions
Daily Breeze - March 30, 2006
By Alison Shackelford Hewitt

The Century Boulevard corridor near Los Angeles International Airport is ripe for investment by the city, and a conference center in the area would likely enable nearby hotels to raise room rates—and city revenues, a Los Angeles tourism official said Wednesday.

"You could not invent a more productive place for the city to place its attention," said Michael Collins, the executive vice president of LA Inc., the city's convention and visitors bureau. "And a conference center may be the trigger that can allow for the infrastructure at the airport to (improve) so that rates can find themselves going higher. We're in the process of examining that right now."

Collins presented his report to the City Council's Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee, which is looking for ways to improve the LAX area in response to hotel workers' pleas for better working conditions. Councilwoman Janice Hahn and Councilman Bill Rosendahl strongly endorsed the idea of a conference center, along with further studies.

"A conference center will add value and complement the overall L.A. mission of tourism," Rosendahl said.

Collins noted that hotels near LAX currently charge the lowest average room rates of any area in the city, and bring in the smallest profit per room.

One night at a typical Westside hotel costs visitors $220, he said. Downtown, the price is $120, while rooms near LAX cost only $82. However, 20 percent of the city's hotels are in the LAX area, and raising rates there could give a big boost to the city's bed-tax revenue, Collins said.

The push for improvements on the Century Corridor has been led in part by the Coalition for a New Century, an advocacy group composed of hotel workers and representatives of organized labor groups that are hoping to unionize the low-income maids, shuttle drivers, waiters and other employees of the area's hotels.

On Wednesday, more than 100 low-income hotel employees attended the council committee's meeting, and many spoke tearfully of their struggles with poverty, low wages and costly health insurance.

"We need the support of the council members so the hotels can give us better wages," said hotel worker Maria Gutierrez.

Hahn and Rosendahl expressed strong support for the workers, and called for labor experts to work with city officials to find ways to improve wages and benefits.

Marisol Cruz, a Lennox school board member who also belongs to the Coalition for a New Century, said she was encouraged.

"I feel very positive about the support of the council members," Cruz said. "They need to increase wages and benefits, and beautify Century. ... That should come with whatever package they pull together. If it doesn't, what's the point?"