UNITE HERE Local 11
UNITE HERE Local 11Jan 09, 2021
Thousands of southern Californian hotel workers went on strike on Sunday, citing the rising cost of housing in the region. The strikers belong to the UNITE HERE Local 11 labor union, which represents more than 32K hospitality workers across Southern California and Arizona.
The union, which represents 15K housekeepers, dishwashers, cooks, waiters, bellhops, and front-desk agents at more than 40 hotels in the area, is calling for an immediate $5 bump to their current wages, a $3 an hour bump in subsequent years, and improved health and retirement benefits.
Hotel workers are the backbone of southern California's tourism industry — without them, corporate bosses wouldn't be able to provide any accommodation services to those visiting the region. Despite these employees' significance, more than half say they've had to relocate to different cities as their wages aren't keeping pace with housing costs. Unions are asking for the bare minimum at an extremely challenging time for the workforce.
California has one of the worst income inequality problems in the US, which won't be solved by periodic calls for wage bumps. The liberal state complains about wages while simultaneously imposing restrictions on residential construction. If California wants to lower housing costs, it should incentivize development in non-urban hubs so that supply can catch up to demand and workers don't have to commute for hours into the city.
There is a 50% chance that 12.6% of American workers will be represented by a labor union in 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.