Drums, horns, and megaphones blare to shout the message of unfair treatment to the city.
With flags waving reading “Strike” on one side and “Huelga” on the other, the workers express their grievances with chants and songs in both Spanish and English.
California Senator Maria Elena Durazo expresses the importance of today’s strikes.
Durazo: “Today is a very important day to show the hotel industry and everyone, the community, that these workers will not give up. They don’t want to end up on the street as homeless families. They need we need to address poverty in a deep way that we can’t stop homelessness if people can’t pay the rent. They want to be able to pay the rent, so they need the wages to be able to pay the rent.”
These workers are asking for a 40% increase in their wages that are currently around $25 an hour.
Maritzia Morales is the current office coordinator at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and commutes an hour from South Central to get to work every day. With her 5 children and numerous grandchildren, her current pay is not enough to support her family.
Morales: “In my side, I feel like this is crazy because they have money to pay lawyers and extra lawyers against the coworkers. So if they have the money to pay them, why can they not give us our increases?”
In addition to the increase in wages, the workers are striking for a healthcare and retirement plan as well.
General Manager of the Biltmore Hotel Jimmy Wu spoke with us about leading his hotel into being one of only three hotels to make deals with the workers after three months of striking.
Wu: “We have peace and we have harmony so we can move on and we can focus on the business.”
But hundred of other hotels in Los Angeles and Orange Counties have yet to make deals. Maria Hernandez who is the organizer of Union Here Local 11 says there is still work to be done to support these workers in their negotiations.
Hernandez: “If there was progress, we would not be out here right now. We have about 50 hotel across the region. Thousands of workers are gathering right now at Pershing Square because they mean business.”
Until negotiations are met, these workers will continue to be on the streets with horns blaring and drums beating to protest their unjust wages.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Madison Hogue.