Each year, millions of Angelenos and visitors drive along Century Boulevard, the main thoroughfare in and out of Los Angeles International Airport and home to the largest concentration of hotels in the city. But few of us know anything about the thousands of men and women who work in the hotels that line this street.
The men and women who work at these hotels are truly the face of Los Angeles to the thousands of tourists who prefer to stay near the airport. These are the housekeepers, the room service workers, the waiters and waitresses -- the very people who make visitors to our city feel welcome. Oftentimes, it is the hospitality of these hotel workers that brings visitors back to Los Angeles.
Over the past year, I have learned firsthand the often heart-wrenching stories of housekeepers, dishwashers, servers and others employed in these hotels.
Most of these hardworking men and women live one paycheck away from losing their homes and not being able to care for their children. As we mark Labor Day, their experience offers both a window into one of our gravest social problems—working poverty—and hope for a better future.
Century Boulevard is the gateway to Los Angeles. It should be a place that reflects the best our city has to offer. Instead, it is home to thousands of low-wage jobs.
Hotel wages in the Century Corridor are 20 percent below those in downtown hotels and almost 30 percent below those in Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. Workers must pay up to $290 per month for employer-provided family health coverage. As a result, many have no health insurance at all.
While working conditions for these hotel workers are shameful, equally disturbing is the attitude of the management of some Century Boulevard hotels, which is hostile and threatening both to the workers and the supportive community members who are trying to improve conditions in the industry.
It doesn't have to be this way. I and many of my City Council colleagues believe that a real solution is possible for the challenges facing Century Boulevard -- one that would bring real benefits to workers, adjacent communities and the hotel industry itself.
The first step is for the LAX hotels to acknowledge the very real problems plaguing this part of Los Angeles and signal their willingness to be a part of the solution. I truly believe that together, we can improve working conditions for these hardworking men and women.
Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn represents the 15th District, which includes the Harbor Area.
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.
