Workers Plan Living Wage Fast

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

Workers Plan 'Living Wage' Fast
LAX Hoteliers Launching Petition Drive
LA Daily News - November 30, 2006

By Rick Orlov

A group of workers along the Century Boulevard corridor announced plans Thursday to begin a water-only fast for the next week to draw attention to their ongoing dispute with hotel owners over implementation of a "living wage."

The workers said they will fast and protest in memory of a Radisson LAX Hotel housekeeper, Margarita Uriostegui, who recently died and was involved in the effort to boost workers' pay.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed the living-wage measure into law Monday, requiring Los Angeles International Airport-area hotels pay workers a minimum of $9.39 an hour with health insurance or $10.64 an hour without.

The law also restricts the firing of any workers and requires the hotels to pay workers gratuities included in service charges for banquets and other events.

But the hotel operators have protested, saying the city is overstepping its authority in an industry with no direct connection to the city.

The hotels benefit, city officials have argued, because of city investments in the airport and the customers it brings to the hotels.

Hoteliers have vowed to put a referendum on the issue before voters in March.

They need to collect some 49,000 signatures of registered voters to put the issue on the ballot.

"The petitions are all printed and we will be on the streets today collecting signatures," spokesman Harvey Englander said. "The plans for a fast have no impact on those plans."

But supporters of the living wage argue the LAX-area hotels are paying 20 percent less than their counterparts in other areas of the city and have some of the highest occupancy rates.

The announcement of the fast came after a speech to the alliance by former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina. He was joined by Andy Stern, president of Service Employees International Union, in urging support for the workers.

"We hope this fast encourages more people to involve themselves in the struggles of low-wage workers that highlight the tremendous disparity between the wealthy and those stuck in poverty," said Madeline Janis of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, which pushed the measure.