Laguna Cliffs Marriott Hires Strike-Breakers Amid Hotel Worker Strike

DANA POINT, CA — After a nearly weeklong pause in picketing, hundreds of Orange County and Southland hospitality workers walked off the job Monday in what their union billed as the second wave of a strike called in hopes of securing higher wages and improved benefits.

Orange County workers, including cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, servers, bellmen, and front desk agents, again walked picket lines in front of their places of work again Monday as they have since July 2. Some hotels, including the Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa, hired "strike-breaking temporary workers, a move that the Unite Here Local 11 chastised, and area officials as "breaking the collective bargaining agreement."

A spokesperson for the Local Unite 11 wrote that while standing for the $5 an hour wage increase to keep up with costs of living, the Laguna Cliffs Marriott has brought in workers from a third-party agency to try to break the strike.

"Outrageously, Laguna Cliffs Marriott has employed few, if any, Black workers among its regular unionized staff. Yet when in need of strike-breakers, they are somehow able to find and hire a number of Black temporary workers," they wrote. "It is repulsive that the hotel would push Black hotel workers to suffer the great indignity of breaking the strike of fellow poverty-wage hotel workers."

In support, letters written by state assembly members claimed the hotel failed to hire workers that "properly reflect the Orange County area and diversify with African-American permanent staff."

Some workers returned to work on July 5, with union officials saying at the time it didn't mean an end to all picketing. The union warned that more walkouts could occur at any time. On June 8, 96 percent of the hotel workers represented by Unite Here Local 11 voted to authorize a strike, including workers at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott.

"No worker should have to sleep in their car between shifts because they cannot afford to live in Los Angeles," union Co-President Kurt Petersen said in a statement Monday. "Workers are striking because they believe that all workers in this city -- whether you teach, write, act, or clean hotel rooms -- deserve a wage that allows them to live with dignity in Los Angeles. The hotel industry is flush with cash. Room rates are soaring. The industry's greed makes workers unable to live in the city where they work."

The contract between the hotels and the union expired at 12:01 a.m. July 1, although the union previously reached a deal with the largest of its employers, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in downtown Los Angeles.

Contract agreements are unresolved with the remaining hotels.

Officials have said the hotels will remain open with management and nonunion staff filling in.

There has been no word of any renewed contract talks between the union and the Coordinated Bargaining Group negotiating on behalf of the hotels.

Representatives for the hotels accused workers of being inflexible in their demands.

The union "has not budged from its opening demand two months ago of up to a 40% wage increase and an over 28% increase in benefit costs. From the outset, the union has shown no desire to engage in productive, good faith negotiations with this group," the reps said in a previous statement.

Attorney Keith Grossman of Hirschfeld Kraemer, one of two firms representing the hotel coalition, told the Los Angeles Times that employers have offered raises of $2.50 an hour in the first 12 months and $6.25 over four years. He said housekeepers at unionized hotels in Beverly Hills and downtown Los Angeles, who currently make $25 per hour, would get a 10% wage increase in 2024 and more than $31 per hour by January 2027.

The workers are on strike "because the union is determined to have one," Grossman said.

Unite Here Local 11 represents up to 15,000 workers employed at about 60 major hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

On June 8, 96% of the union's members approved a strike authorization. Union officials said a recent survey of its members showed that 53% said they have moved in the past five years or will move soon because of soaring housing costs in the Los Angeles area.

Union officials said their members earn $20 to $25 an hour. Negotiators are asking for an immediate $5 an-hour raise and an additional $3 an hour in subsequent years of the contract, along with improvements in health care and retirement benefits.

The union is also seeking to create a hospitality workforce housing fund. Many union members say they're now commuting hours from areas like Apple Valley, Palmdale, California City, and Victorville.

Patch has reached out to Marriott HR for a comment and will update this report with the response when one is received.

City News Service contributed to this report.