LA's Biltmore Hotel, Striking Workers Reach Tentative Contract

LOS ANGELES -- Days before it marks its 100th anniversary, the Millennium Biltmore hotel reached a tentative labor agreement with striking hospitality workers, their union announced today, becoming the second major Los Angeles hotel to strike a contract deal.

According to the Unite Here Local 11 union, the tentative labor deal affects 300 workers at the historic downtown hotel, which opened its doors on Oct. 1, 1923.

``We applaud the Biltmore Los Angeles for putting their workers and our city first,'' Kurt Petersen, union co-president, said in a statement.

``L.A. is the world's most important tourist destination, with the World Cup and Olympics coming back to back in 2026 and 2028. This agreement takes steps to ensure that workers who work in LA will be able to live in L.A.''

According to the union, the tentative deal with the Biltmore includes ``unprecedented wage increases,'' affordable family health care coverage for workers, ``humane workloads and safe staffing,'' along with increases in pensions and ``equal justice'' language providing access to union jobs for formerly incarcerated people.

``We are very pleased to have come to an agreement with Unite Here Local 11 on behalf of our loyal and dedicated employees,'' Biltmore General Manager Jimmy Wu said in a statement released by the union. ``We can now focus together on looking after our guests and providing the level of service our guests have come to expect from the Biltmore Los Angeles.''

Union officials said their members earn $20 to $25 an hour. Negotiators were 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.

Members of the Unite Here Local 11 union initially walked off the job on July 2, continuing their picketing through the Fourth of July holiday. The union represents up to 15,000 workers employed at about 60 major hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

The workers represented by the union include cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, servers, bellmen and front desk agents.

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