Union Leaders, Hotel Executives Unveil Pact

In a pact hailed as a major labor breakthrough for L.A.’s vital tourism industry, union leaders and executives at half a dozen major hotels yesterday unveiled a new, six-year contract that includes substantial wage increases and other gains for the mostly immigrant work force.

Elected officials, union chiefs and hotel managers all lauded the pact in an unusual show of solidarity for an industry long marked by contentious labor relations.

“We want the world to see that L.A. works together,” said Mayor Richard J. Riordan, who was among those who gathered downtown to detail the settlement.

The celebratory scene was far different from the divisive negotiations six years ago, when union strategists produced a controversial video--”City on the Edge”--that accused hotel operators of exploiting immigrant workers and contributing to the growing misery of the working poor.

During the six-year life of the new agreement, housekeepers’ hourly earnings will rise by more than one-third, from $8.15 an hour to $11.05. Wages here still lag behind those in heavily unionized cities like New York and San Francisco, but workers say the hikes--accompanied by expanded medical benefits, a $10 prescription plan and coverage for domestic partners--will allow them to strive for a better life.

“This gives us a chance for our children, and they are our hope for the future,” said Silvia Vides, a 17-year housekeeper at the Sheraton Universal who was among many workers attending the session, including a contingent of maids in pink uniforms.

The new contract, experts agreed, was another indication of the improving regional economy. But participants on both sides also called the pact an illustration of the maturing relationship between labor and hotel management.

“Immigrant workers, Latino workers, workers in the tourism industry have historically been consigned to what have been called ‘dead end’ jobs,” said Maria Elena Durazo, president of Local 11 of the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Union, which negotiated the new pact. “The new standard is going to turn that around.”

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Durazo, often viewed as an implacable foe of hotel management, shared the podium with some of the region’s top hotel executives--who shared her optimism.

“This contract represents a victory for both sides, and will establish a benchmark for future labor/management negotiations,” said Randall Villareal, general manager of the Regal Biltmore Hotel and chairman of the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Helping to make the agreement palatable for management, negotiators said, were several union concessions, including company reductions in health care contributions that will save the hotels tens of millions of dollars.

Other novel features of the pact include job protection against sub-contracting--a growing trend in the industry--and employment guarantees of up to 24 months for workers who must leave their jobs temporarily when immigration work permits expire. In another significant provision, the contract preserves jobs in case the hotel management or ownership changes--a frequent occurrence in the fluid L.A. hotel industry.

Signing the contract were six hotels--the Regal Biltmore, Holiday Inn Convention Center, Hyatt on Sunset, Hyatt Regency, Omni and Sheraton Universal--with a combined work force of 1,600.

However, no contract agreement is in place yet for about 3,000 other unionized hotel workers whose current pact expires in April. The eight hotels still negotiating are the Bel Air, Beverly Hilton, Westin Bonaventure, Century Plaza, Radission Wilshire Plaza, Regent Beverly Wilshire, Sportsman’s Lodge and Summit Rodeo.