LOS ANGELES (CNS) — The union representing 1000’s of Southland hospitality employees who’re within the midst of a strike searching for greater wages and improved advantages known as Thursday for pop celebrity Taylor Swift to postpone her upcoming collection of SoFi Stadium live shows.
The Unite Right here Native 11 union printed an open letter Thursday reaching out to the singer.
What You Want To Know
- The letter concludes, “Stand with us and postpone your concerts”
- Swift is scheduled to carry out 5 reveals at SoFi Stadium — Aug. 3-5 and Aug. 8-9
- There’s been no public response from Swift
- The employees represented by the union embody cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, servers, bellmen and entrance desk brokers
“Your shows make our hotels a lot of money,” the letter said. “In Los Angeles, accommodations are doubling and even tripling what they cost since you are coming. In addition they add junk charges on rooms, identical to Ticketmaster does. Be we see none of it.
“… The hotels are making more money than ever, but we can’t afford to live close to work, so some of us sleep in our cars between shifts. Our paychecks are so small many of us are losing our homes.”
The letter concludes, “Stand with us and postpone your concerts.”
Swift is scheduled to carry out 5 reveals at SoFi Stadium — Aug. 3-5 and Aug. 8-9.
The union additionally shared testimonials from a few of its placing members, together with one who referred to her “tenacity in difficult and painful moments. … With this in mind, and in tune to our collective love of everything (Taylor Swift), I ask her to honor our struggle and postpone her concerts until our employers agree to a living wage for hospitality workers across Los Angeles.”
There’s been no public response from Swift.
On June 8, 96% of the union’s members accredited a strike authorization. Union officers mentioned a current survey of its members confirmed that 53% mentioned they have moved up to now 5 years or will transfer within the close to future due to hovering housing prices within the Los Angeles space.
Union officers mentioned their members earn $20 to $25 an hour. Negotiators are asking for a right away $5 an hour elevate and a further $3 an hour in subsequent years of the contract together with enhancements in well being care and retirement advantages.
Union members are actually within the midst of the third wave of picketing towards numerous accommodations. The latest picket strains are primarily in Beverly Hills, together with The Beverly Hilton and the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills.
Members of the Unite Right here Native 11 union initially walked off the job on July 2, persevering with their picketing by means of the Fourth of July vacation. That first wave of picketing focused 21 accommodations concerned in contract negotiations with the union.
The second wave of picketing started July 10, concentrating on a complete of 12 accommodations, together with a number of within the Westchester space close to Los Angeles Worldwide Airport.
The employees represented by the union embody cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, servers, bellmen and entrance desk brokers.
Representatives for the Coordinated Bargaining Group representing native accommodations have accused the union of being rigid in its calls for.
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 mentioned in a earlier assertion.
Legal professional Keith Grossman of Hirschfeld Kraemer, considered one of two corporations representing the resort coalition, instructed the Los Angeles Occasions beforehand that employers have supplied raises of $2.50 an hour within the first 12 months and $6.25 over 4 years. He mentioned housekeepers at unionized accommodations in Beverly Hills and downtown Los Angeles, who presently make $25 per hour, would get a ten% wage enhance in 2024 and make greater than $31 per hour by January 2027.
The employees are on strike “because the union is determined to have one,” Grossman mentioned.
Unite Right here Native 11 represents as much as 15,000 employees employed at about 60 main accommodations in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Earlier this month, the union despatched a letter to the American Political Science Affiliation asking that it cancel it is deliberate 6,000-person annual assembly scheduled for Aug. 31-Sept. 3 on the Los Angeles Conference Heart because of the strike.
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