Over 700 hotel workers, community
activists, clergy, and supporters held a picket and rally July 22 that took the
street on Sunset Blvd in an affluent West Hollywood neighborhood. The target
was the luxurious Hyatt-owned Andaz Hotel, which boasts of being “an oasis of
modern Hollywood glamour.”
 Picket at Hyatt Hotel in Long Beach, July 22 Photo: Stevie Merino |
UNITE HERE, the hospitality
workers’ union, organized the protest. Members of the Party for Socialism and
Liberation, as well as organizers with the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop
War and End Racism), joined in solidarity with the hotel workers.
While this hotel rakes in
mountains of profits from its penthouse suites, chic lounges and French cuisine,
it is at the same time cutting the pay, health benefits and working conditions
of the service personnel who make the hotel run.
But what is normally a monument to
Hollywood’s wealth and luxury was turned into a display of working-class
struggle and militancy. After a picket that lined several blocks of Sunset
Blvd, blocking the entire sidewalk and entrance to the hotel, the hundreds of
workers spilled into the streets. There was a spirited rally, and theatrical
performances where actors dressed as privileged members of the Pritzker family
owners talked about their soaring profits, and fear of a workers’ movement.
The rally in the street became a
civil disobedience action. When the police ordered the crowd to disperse,
dozens sat down, chanting “Contract now!” and refusing to leave. Cheered on by
the hundreds lining the streets, the hotel workers, union organizers, young
students and religious leaders were shackled and loaded onto paddy wagons.
Long Beach
In Long Beach, a crowd of hundreds
picketed outside of the Hyatt Hotel. Demonstrators carried signs that read
“Contracts Now” and “this hotel has no union contracts.”
In addition, a number of
demonstrators disguised themselves as guests and invaded the Hyatt’s main
entrance lobby. When a signal was given, they pulled out signs demanding
justice for the hotel workers, and peacefully walked out singing protest songs.
Hotels continue to attack workers
nationwide. More than 115,000 hotel jobs have been slashed since 2008. So far
in the first quarter of 2010, 46,000 jobs have been cut.
We need to continue to stand with
hotel workers, and to make their demands heard. The unfair treatment of hotel
workers by the vicious hotel industry needs to stop. The demonstrations in
California, and throughout the country, sent a message to the Hyatt CEOs that
the workers will stand and fight; it was a major step in the struggle to win a
contract. Support the hotel workers! Contracts now!
