This past Labor Day carried extra weight for the workers at the Westin Long Beach hotel, who unanimously ratified their new working contract on Aug. 30.
Westin Long Beach room attendants, cooks, front desk employees and housekeepers had been striking in front of the hotel before and after work since July 6. They joined over 10,000 other hotel workers across the nation who have been pushing for new contracts with higher wages and employee protections.
Hotel workers at 73 hotels have now ratified new agreements, according to UNITE HERE Local 11, which represents more than 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona.
Long Beach hotel and tourism workers received a baseline wage increase to $23 an hour when voters approved Measure RW in March. Since Westin workers are represented at a union, they have the right to advocate for more protections and higher wages.
“We are so excited. We fought so hard. We picketed and struck and organized actions to show we will not stop until we get what we deserve, and now we have won a life-changing agreement,” said Juana Melara, housekeeper at Westin Long Beach, in a statement from the union. “There were lots of tears of joy at our ratification vote.”
The contract was unanimously approved by the workers at Westin Long Beach. The new agreement includes an immediate $5 an hour raise and another $6.25 an hour over three and a half years. By the time this contract expires on Jan. 15, 2028, the workers will see wage increases of $11.25 an hour.
In addition to the historic wage increase, Westin workers’ contract includes:
- Guaranteed pre-pandemic staffing levels
- Mandatory daily room cleaning
- One of the nation’s highest pensions for service workers
- 50 pages of improvements, including Juneteenth as a paid holiday
- Unprecedented rights for immigrants and workers impacted by the carceral system
“The hotel industry repeatedly underestimated the determination and tenacity of the workers. They tried to demoralize and divide us with firings, threats, and violence, but it has only made us stronger,” said Kurt Petersen, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11 in a public statement.
