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
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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 |
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Hotel Workers Continue to Struggle
Century Corridor Target of Labor Improvements
Our Weekly - May 11, 2006
By Cynthia E. Griffin
Tourism is the second largest industry in Los Angeles based on employment, and in 2004 it generated $12 billion in visitor-related spending. The Century Boulevard corridor with its 13 hotels and more than 7,200 rooms has the highest occupancy rate in the county yet its workers are paid below industry standard wages; have little job security; lose as much as $150 per day worked in tips because employers keep the gratuity that is paid for their services; and African Americans hold a minuscule number (two percent) of these service industry jobs.
Those are among the findings in a recently released report called “Opportunity for All, Creating Shared Prosperity in the Gateway to Los Angeles.”
Additionally, during public hearings gathering information for the report, Century Boulevard was described as a “seedy” street lacking the entertainment, shopping and dining facilities that would attract the millions of visitors who go in and out of the hotels throughout the year.
In the wake of the report, the Los Angeles City Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee of the Los Angeles City Council sent a set of recommendations to the full council that many expect to accelerate the momentum of change in the corridor.
The full council approved the recommendations Wednesday and now the City Attorney’s office in conjunction with the Chief Legislative Analyst will research and draft a report on the legality and difficulty of each of the requests and take them back to the Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee.
According to Mike Pfiffer executive director of the Los Angeles Hotel Association, his organization has offered to work with the city on the study and eagerly awaits the results.
LAHA represents some 85 hotel owners throughout Los Angeles County, and Pfiffer said his group has not studied the issue of wages and benefits in the LAX area.
Among the major recommendations sent on to the full council are a directive to the City Attorney to prepare and present an ordinance within 60 days requiring hotel and restaurant owners or operators to state in writing the purpose of the “service charge” tacked onto the bills of large groups and to state clearly whether this amount includes a specific percentage to be paid in tips to the hotel or restaurant worker; to report back in 60 days on the feasibility of adopting an ordinance requiring hotels within the Los Angeles International Airport area to pay the city’s living wage to service workers; to explore to see if there is a need to sponsor legislation to provide basic health care coverage to lower income workers; to explore the feasibility of adopting an ordinance requiring LAX-hotels that are sold to retain existing workers for a specified time; and to explore the possibility of investigating complaints by hotel workers of intimidation or retaliation by management for contacts with union representatives or members.
The committee also asked LA Inc., the Convention and Visitors Bureau, to look at the feasibility of establishing a conference center in or near the Century Boulevard corridor. This has been a major wish for industry officials, said the report.
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Featured Video |
Spanish TV Coverage of LA Hotel Housekeepers' Oct 25 March & Rally 
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A Living Wage |
Get the Facts
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LAX Hilton Boycott
 Twenty-seven people were arrested in front of the Hilton LAX recently as 400 supporters watched. More
 LAANE deputy director Vivian Rothstein explains why political and community leaders in Los Angeles and around the region are boycotting the LAX Hilton hotel. Listen
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Watch The Slide Video Show of the Oct. 25 Actions!
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Study Exposes The Dangers of Hotel Housekeeping - Read |
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