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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Students Hope for Arrest
Members of the Social Justice Organization Plan Nonviolent Protest for September 28.
Los Angeles Loyolan - September 18, 2006
By Brian Rubinow
A group of LMU students are preparing to be arrested on Sept. 28.
Members of Students for Labor and Economic Justice (SLEJ) plan to participate in the upcoming Century Blvd. protest on Sept. 28th, in which thousands are expected to march along Century Blvd., blocking all lanes of traffic on the main route between LAX and its hotels.
A video titled "April 21st" was shown at a SLEJ recption in St. Robert's Hall on Saturday. The video documented a student-led protest of the hotels along Century Blvd. near LAX, which SLEJ alleged also mistreated their workers.
Sandra Nuñez, a senior psychology and Chicana/o studies double major and president of SLEJ anticipated that it would be "the largest nonviolent act of civil disobedience in the history of Los Angeles."
Kai Newkirk, a member of Local 11 Hotel Workers Union helping to organize the Sept. 28th protest, said that their mission is "to send a message that if we are not respected, we're going to shut [the hotels] down."
"I don't think LMU will really be taken seriously until they choose to boycott the Hilton LAX because there's an institutional relationship there between the university and the hotel that's exploiting the workers. So until they support that boycott, I think it will be a hypocrisy of the worst sort," he added.
LMU students, faculty and staff, and several members of the greater Los Angeles community, gathered for the LMU Social Justice Celebration to honor LMU's recent decision to hire its University Hall night shift workers directly, rather than through outside company United Building Services (UBS).
SLEJ first brought concerns about the employee contracts to the administration's attention during a rally in Club Commons in January.
The new system enables U-Hall workers to receive benefits and fair treatment which SLEJ members say UBS denied them. Presiding over the event was Assistant Professor of Chicano and Chicana Studies Richard Sonny Espinoza and Marian Alonso, a junior psychology major and SLEJ member in attendance at the event, explained that, "This night is about honoring the members of SLEJ and also the workers who work on this campus to keep it looking beautiful. I think it's a reminder of our oft-quoted and oft-cited mission statement that says that we should make justice part of every decision we make."
"[This night] is primarily a celebration about everything SLEJ has accomplished," Nuñez added.
Beginning with a reception at 7 p.m., the celebration highlighted the many accomplishments of SLEJ over the past year. An introductory presentation given in both English and Spanish elucidated SLEJ's history and mission, in addition to chronicling the struggle for workers' rights on the LMU campus.
As part of the presentation, the documentary "Dirty Work," made by LMU alumnae and founding members of SLEJ Alberto Ramirez and Melissa Escobar, was shown. The video originally first made last year to document what SLEJ members called the "unfair conditions" of the U-Hall workers.
Following the conclusion of the presentation, Nuñez and Espinoza invited three U-Hall workers in attendance to take the microphone and share their thoughts. Speaking through Nuñez as a translator, each employee expressed gratitude and support for SLEJ's efforts.
Reflecting on the events of the night, Nuñez said, "To me it's very important for people to hear the testimonies of the U-Hall workers as well as the hotel workers because it puts a face to a problem, and these faces are so close to us." Nuñez echoed the spirit of the night in describing her hope that hotel workers can one day gain the respect she feels they deserve.
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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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