Posts tagged Los Angeles
Don’t Overlook the Union Factor in California’s Chaos
June 12, 2025 // Many on the left applauded Newsom for this bold departure from his fiduciary and constitutional responsibilities. But it was Huerta who rightly claimed the credit. “Healthcare justice and immigrant justice are core values of SEIU members,” he said in a statement. “Passing Health for All is the gold standard for inclusion in healthcare, an achievement that the rest of the nation can look to. I am proud of California’s progress toward inclusion of immigrant workers and our families in our healthcare system, and I’m especially proud that SEIU members in California and our allies fought so hard and for so many years to accomplish this.”
California SEIU president out of hospital, in custody after immigration protest
June 9, 2025 // Federal agents arrested Huerta on Friday for allegedly interfering with law enforcement activity as he and members of SEIU California, SEIU-United Service Workers West and immigrant advocacy and labor groups protested immigration raids that took place around downtown Los Angeles earlier that day.
LA lost 11K hotel jobs in 2024, new $38.35 minimum wage risks more, group says
June 6, 2025 // According to an April report from the American Hotel and Lodging Association, LA ranks last among major U.S. cities in post-COVID recovery, and with current visitor levels at just 79% of what they were in 2019. A CUF analysis of state data found the city lost 11,000 hotel jobs in 2024 as a result, and warned in a full-page advertisement on Thursday, the day before an anticipated final vote approving the new wage and benefit ordinance, that “this new proposal will kill more jobs and raise costs for visitors.”
Businesses seek to overturn hotel and airport wage hikes by forcing a citywide election
May 30, 2025 // Under the city's laws, hotel and airport workers have minimum wages that are higher than those who are employed by other industries. The hotel minimum wage, approved by the council in 2014, is currently $20.32 per hour. The minimum wage for private-sector employees at LAX is $25.23 per hour, which includes a $5.95 hourly healthcare payment. For nearly everyone else in L.A., the hourly minimum wage is $17.28, 78 cents higher than the state’s. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.
LA Passes $30 Minimum Wage for Hotel, Airport Workers
May 15, 2025 // "Hotel employees in Los Angeles are paid the highest wages in the country, but right now their jobs are at risk,'' said Rosanna Maietta, CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, at a press conference last month. "City leaders are considering a damaging proposal that will jeopardize these jobs; it would devastate much needed tourism related tax revenue and lead to the closure of hotels that are desperately needed to successfully host the 2026 World Cup, the 2027 Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympics."
UNITE HERE Local 11 Faces Third Round of Federal Unfair Labor Practice Charges From LAX Flying Foods Employees
May 14, 2025 // Workers have reported union officials using mob-like tactics, physical confrontations, false accusations, and more in retaliation for union dissent
National Right to Work Foundation Launches Campaign to Expose Unite Here’s Bullying of Workers
May 12, 2025 // The NRLB is supposed to enforce federal labor law, including adjudicating disputes between management, union officials, and individual employees. Similar cases of UNITE HERE's malfeasance are being litigated in Washington, D.C., Boston, Seattle, and Orlando. As RedState reported, UNITE HERE Local 11 in Los Angeles struck the death knell to the 100-year-old iconic restaurant The Original Pantry Cafe, which was owned by former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan. After Riordan's passing, his trust attempted to sell the restaurant. UNITE HERE swooped in, supposedly on behalf of the workers, and instead of protecting the employees, managed to wreak havoc.
LA firefighters union leaders suspended after audit finds $800,000 in undocumented spending
May 6, 2025 // A more extensive audit was ordered, revealing that Escobar had spent more than $300,000 on his union credit card between July 2018 and November 2024. Kelly said there was no way to determine that the funds were used for “legitimate union expenditures.” Auditors had warned union leadership in March 2024 there were “significant deficiencies” in the local's financial practices. Escobar spent more than $70,000 without submitting a single receipt that year. A former treasurer, Domingo Albarran, was also found to have spent more than $300,000 over about five years without documentation of the expenditures, according to the letter.
May Day demonstrations in US and around the globe protest Trump agenda
May 4, 2025 // Hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. and around the world rallied Thursday in May Day protests that united many in anger over President Donald Trump’s agenda from aggressive tariffs that are stoking fears of global economic turmoil to his administration’s immigration crackdowns. In the United States, organizers framed this year’s International Workers’ Day protests as a pushback against what they see as the administration’s sweeping assault on labor protections, diversity initiatives and federal employees.
New Campaign Exposes UNITE HERE’s Anti-Worker Tactics
May 1, 2025 // The groundbreaking new campaign, featuring the mini-documentary “The Reality of Union Bullying by UNITE HERE,” shows the reality of deceptive promises and intimidating behavior from one of America’s most powerful unions, as well as the steps workers are taking to safeguard their rights from union bosses. “They’re supposed to protect us, but they just take our money and our voice,” says Erika, a San Francisco hotel worker who has been forced to pay dues for years. “The only time UNITE HERE would talk to us was when we would get paid.” Erika is not alone. Across the country, Maria, a Chicago Hilton worker, has faced the same intimidating behavior as UNITE HERE officials attempt to muscle into her workplace. The video detailing these heartbreaking experiences has already gone viral, amassing well over a million views.