SAN PEDRO, Calif. — “This is our third three-day strike at this hotel since July,” Maria Gurrola told the Militant on the picket line at the DoubleTree here March 16. “We’re fighting for higher pay and better conditions.
“Even if we get the $5-an-hour raise, we’ll be below the pay at hotels in downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica,” she said. Gurrola is a cook with 11 years of experience here and a volunteer union organizer.
“The staff was cut during COVID and never built up again,” she added. “Housekeepers are expected to clean rooms in 20 minutes and complete between 12 and 14 rooms a day.”
Since UNITE HERE Local 11’s fight for contracts at hotels began last July, 34 Los Angeles-area hotels have signed contracts with the union. It is looking to win contracts at another 28.