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| UNITE HERE Local 11 | |
|---|---|
| Name | Local 11 |
| Location country | United States |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California |
| Affiliation | UNITE HERE |
| Founded | 1930s |
| Members | ~32,000 (est.) |
| Key people | Roger González, Brian Penney |
| Industries | Hospitality, Hotel, Food Service |
UNITE HERE Local 11 is a labor union representing hotel, food service, airport, and related workers in Southern California and Arizona. Formed from early 20th-century hotel and hospitality organizing traditions, the union has been a prominent actor in labor disputes, political coalitions, and community partnerships across Los Angeles, Phoenix, and surrounding municipalities. Its campaigns have interacted with a wide array of institutions and personalities in the labor and civic sphere.
Local 11 traces roots to the industrial unionism of the 1930s and the era of the National Labor Relations Board alongside organizing waves linked to the Congress of Industrial Organizations and the American Federation of Labor. In the postwar decades, Local 11 engaged with national developments involving the Taft–Hartley Act, the rise of the Teamsters, and the labor realignments that produced unions such as UNITE HERE and antecedents like Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union and Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. Leaders and campaigns intersected with figures from the Civil Rights Movement, labor leaders like A. Philip Randolph and Walter Reuther, and municipal actors from the Los Angeles City Council and the County of Los Angeles. Local 11’s history reflects interactions with institutions including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Department of Labor (United States), and municipal authorities in Long Beach, California and Santa Monica, California. Legal and strategic battles invoked precedents from the Supreme Court of the United States and enforcement agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Membership comprises hotel housekeepers, culinary workers, bellmen, servers, airport concession workers at sites like Los Angeles International Airport and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, and staff in venues such as the Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena) and major resorts in Beverly Hills, California and Las Vegas Strip. The local’s governance includes an elected president, executive board, and shop stewards analogous to structures used by unions like Service Employees International Union and International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Local 11 coordinates with geographically adjacent locals, affiliates with national bodies such as UNITE HERE and interacts with municipal labor commissions in San Diego, Anaheim, California, and Tucson, Arizona. Training and apprenticeship programs reference standards from the National Labor College and workforce development entities like the California Employment Development Department.
Collective bargaining campaigns have targeted major hotel chains and corporations including Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, and Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Agreements have addressed wages, health benefits aligned with standards related to the Affordable Care Act, pensions influenced by precedents from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, and grievance procedures paralleling models used by the United Auto Workers. Major campaigns invoked public pressure and coalition tactics similar to historic campaigns by SEIU and the United Farm Workers; they have coordinated with community organizations like the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and advocacy groups including MALDEF and Service Employees International Union Local 99.
Local 11 engages in voter mobilization, ballot measures, and lobbying at levels involving the California State Legislature, Arizona Legislature, and city halls in Los Angeles and Phoenix. The local has supported candidates and measures that affect labor law and municipal ordinances, working alongside political actors from the Democratic Party (United States), labor coalitions linked to the AFL–CIO, and progressive organizations such as ACORN and MoveOn.org. Advocacy has included campaigns for minimum wage ordinances reminiscent of the Fight for $15 movement, employment protections similar to legislation like the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, and municipal living-wage laws like those pioneered in San Francisco.
Local 11 has organized strikes, slowdowns, and public demonstrations echoing tactics used in historic labor confrontations such as the Pullman Strike and more recent hospitality strikes in New York City and Chicago. Notable labor actions targeted hotels tied to major events at venues like LA Live and conventions at the Los Angeles Convention Center, drawing comparisons to protests associated with labor actions at the Super Bowl and Academy Awards. Responses have prompted interventions by municipal departments, involvement of mediators from entities like the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and coverage in media outlets paralleling reportage by Los Angeles Times and The New York Times.
Relations with major hospitality employers have alternated between cooperative collective bargaining and contentious organizing drives, influencing labor standards across the regional hospitality economy connected to corporate headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland and Chicago. The local’s contracts have set industry precedents affecting employers such as Host Hotels & Resorts and management firms modeled on Aimbridge Hospitality. Impacts extend to tourism economies managed by destination marketing organizations like those in Anaheim and Palm Springs, California, and to labor-management negotiations that reference arbitration and bargaining frameworks from bodies such as the National Labor Relations Board.
Local 11 operates worker centers and community programs offering services that mirror initiatives by organizations like Jobs With Justice and the United Way. Programs include job training, legal clinics with partners resembling the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, health outreach coordinated with institutions such as Kaiser Permanente and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and financial counseling informed by practices from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation outreach programs. The local collaborates with immigrant-rights organizations including Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and faith-based partners like the Los Angeles Archdiocese to support multilingual worker education and community engagement.
Category:Trade unions in the United States Category:Labor relations in California