Of the many numbers that tumbled out of the recent ratification of union contracts at nearly three dozen Los Angeles area hotels, the one that will become increasingly important was barely noted: 2028.
Specifically, it is in January of 2028 that these newly approved contracts will expire. That is six months before the Summer Olympics begin in and around Los Angeles, and before fans stream in from all over the world to stay in many of the same hotels that have been locked in tense, strike-driven negotiations with the hotel workers’ union since last year.
The numbers in the new contracts all matter, but 2028 is one to bear in mind. Because that is the next horizon — and the union is already playing the long game.
Eight months after initiating a strike at more than 60 hotels in the L.A. area, UNITE HERE Local 11 announced contract approvals this week at 34 properties, with 98% of workers overall voting to ratify. The union also broadly proclaimed victory, with raises totaling $10 per hour over the life of the deal — a 40%-50% wage increase for room attendants, cooks and other nontipped workers and a figure very close to the union’s original ask. (Disclosure: UNITE HERE is a financial supporter of Capital & Main.)
Under the new wage scale, room attendants at most hotels will earn $73,000 per year by July of 2027. Top cooks will reach $85,000. In both cases, the hope is that the raises will help close what has been an ever-widening gap between what those workers earn and what it costs to live anywhere near their places of employment in the L.A. area.
The union also noted major pension improvements and fair workload guarantees, among other advances. But it’s something that didn’t happen that suggests the future play: Several hotels pushed during the drawn-out negotiations for a contract that carried through the Olympics. The union consistently declined.
“They offered significantly more money to extend beyond the Olympics,” Kurt Petersen, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11, said of the hotels, which he did not name. “We decided too much was at stake for our city to be bought off.”
So even while the bargaining team celebrates a partial victory for workers (some 30 hotels remain unsettled), UNITE HERE’s leadership has circled the Olympic year of 2028 as another opportunity to advance their cause.
Lessons learned over the past half year could be pivotal. The hotel workers realized they were able to amplify their message not only by striking en masse, but by aligning themselves with other, higher-profile labor actions in Los Angeles. They marched alongside the powerful teachers union. They protested on behalf of Hollywood writers and actors, and those unions did the same for UNITE HERE.
And while trying to build public pressure has had a hit-and-miss success rate in negotiations over the years, some hotels proved willing last summer to agree to a deal rather than face mass protests from multiple unions and, potentially, familiar TV and movie faces.
Some labor experts cited the example of the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA, two Hollywood unions that repeatedly invoked the names of the Hollywood studios and their CEOs — and how much money they make — during their own, ultimately successful strikes. Most people have no idea who runs the major lodging corporations, but consistently mentioning Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott and other name brands reminds visitors who sits on the other side of the bargaining table from workers.
In a similar vein, some hotels reached agreements to avoid protests at key spotlight moments. The Beverly Hilton struck a deal with UNITE HERE last December just before the Golden Globe nominees were to be announced at the property. That agreement broke a logjam, and shortly thereafter, both the Beverly Wilshire and Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills — two other preferred destinations for Hollywood awards shows and galas — came to terms with the union.
“One advantage is that a lot of these big companies, not all, are highly visible, and they depend on strong public sentiment,” said Peter Dreier, an Occidental College professor, author and labor expert. “They don’t want to tarnish their names in public.”
The union’s work in this current bargaining cycle is hardly done. Workers at roughly 30 hotels remain without new contracts, and among the marquee hotels that haven’t struck a deal are the historic Figueroa, the downtown DoubleTree by Hilton, and the Le Meridien in Santa Monica.
But by intentionally leaving the new contracts to expire in January of 2028, the union has already put itself in position to bargain for its workers on what promises to be another of the most public of stages, the eve of the Olympics — and with the very hotels that are hoping and planning for record paydays from visitors to the Games.
The truth about publicity as expressed by Dreier, that is, may well come into play once again in the next negotiation. And for lower-wage workers trying to make a living in Southern California, there is always a next negotiation.
