Hi John
Across Los Angeles, workers are rising up, walking out, and demanding their fair share. From the hotel workers who keep L.A.’s hospitality industry thriving, to the Hollywood writers and actors on strike together for the first time since 1960, to the UPS drivers preparing for the largest strike in American history, #HotLaborSummer is in full swing.
Over the past couple weeks, we’ve accompanied hotel workers from UNITE HERE LOCAL 11 on their picket lines in the largest industry-wide strike in modern history.
At the root of these struggles is a common thread: workers who are the backbone of major economic engines can’t afford to live in our city and struggle to make ends meet. Meanwhile, the travel and tourism industry has built back with billions in public investment and pandemic relief funds.
While workers are striking to address these deep inequities, we have been joining tourism workers at City Hall to raise the standard across the industry. Back in April, LAANE launched the Tourism Workers Rising campaign in partnership with SEIU-USWW, UNITE HERE Local 11, and a growing coalition of 65 organizations including clergy, community, labor, and other organizations! Since then, we’ve been advocating for the Tourism Workers Rising ordinance, which would update our current living wage policies for airport and hotel workers to $25/hour immediately, $30/hour by the 2028 Olympics, and ensure that tourism workers have access to quality health care. Our Long Beach for a Just Economy team is also working with UNITE HERE Local 11 on a similar motion for a ballot measure to raise the wage for tourism workers; last week the Long Beach City Council approved the motion unanimously, and we are expecting a vote on whether to place the measure on the ballot in the fall.
The urgency to keep our tourism workers healthy and housed has never been more pressing, with an unprecedented housing crisis and wages that have not kept pace with the cost of living. Can you sign our petition asking the LA City Council to support this motion?
