Community Leaders Blast Appeal of Living Wage Court Order,
Celebrate Victory at Westin LAX,
Announce Boycott at Four Points Sheraton LAX

Faith and community leaders have criticized a February decision by LAX-area hotels to challenge a recent state appellate court ruling requiring hotels near the airport to pay their workers a living wage. Hotels have already spent over one million dollars fighting the living wage ordinance, and their opposition to the wage law has cost workers millions of dollars since February 2007.

In December 2007, the state Court of Appeal overturned a lower court ruling, thereby upholding a living wage ordinance for LAX hotel workers enacted in February 2007 by the LA City Council. Coalition for a New Century leaders condemned the continued opposition by LAX hotels to improvements in the pay and working conditions for their employees and have expressed confidence that the living wage ordinance will prevail and help lift 3,500 hotel workers out of poverty.

Meanwhile, on March 6, workers at the Westin LAX celebrated a victory when the hotel recognized UNITE HERE Local 11 as their union after an overwhelmingly majority of workers signed union authorization cards, paving the way for a contract that will substantially improve working conditions at the hotel. The agreement at the Westin is the second such victory at LAX-area hotels, where community members and workers launched an organizing drive and living wage campaign two years ago to lift workers out of poverty and revitalize Century Boulevard, where most of the hotels are located. Three other hotels have signed agreements to respect workers right to organize, and workers at those hotels are doing just that.

The Coalition for a New Century has also won an agreement from the Sheraton Gateway to increase African American employment at the hotel, and is fighting for similar agreements from the other Century hotels.

“Workers, students, and religious leaders stood together during this historic fight to end the poverty generated by Los Angeles’ airport hotels,” said Vivian Rothstein, deputy director of LAANE. “Some of the hotels have recognized that it is better to work together to revitalize the local tourism industry and upgrade jobs. Other hotels are still learning.”

Indeed, workers at the Four Points Sheraton LAX announced a boycott on March 10th and are demanding that management agrees to negotiate with the workers for a fair contract, including an agreement to increase the hiring of African Americans at the hotel. After months of attempted negotiations and little progress, workers—a majority of whom lack health insurance—say American Property Management Corporation, owner and operator of the hotel, is negotiating in bad faith. The Los Angeles Unified School District voted in late February to avoid booking events at facilities where workers have called a boycott, including the LAX Hilton and the Four Points Sheraton.