Tag: HERE Local 11
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Miguel Contreras: Warrior for Working Families
Read more: Miguel Contreras: Warrior for Working FamiliesAs leader of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Miguel Contreras (1952-2005) reshaped LA’s unions into a powerful political, economic, and social force. When Contreras was 17, his family attended a rally in support of Senator Robert Kennedy’s campaign for president where they met Cesar Chávez, leader of the United Farm Workers (UFW). Miguel and his father became active in the union and helped to lead strike in Fresno as part of the UFW’s…
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“We call each other sister unions”
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Read more: “We call each other sister unions”Rocio Sáenz recalls the spirit of solidarity among unions in the early 1990s I come from Mexico City, and I had a union there. Even though, looking back at the unions in Mexico, they were often very corrupt, at the time I thought it was better than nothing. When I came to the U.S., I did a lot of different jobs. I was a domestic worker, I was a salesperson in a store, and stuff…
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Lobbying Day At City Council
Read more: Lobbying Day At City CouncilThe Living Wage was the first major campaign of LAANE (Los Angeles Alliance for the New Economy, then known at the Tourism Industry Development Council), who helped to conceive of and craft the ordinance in close collaboration with HERE Local 11 (representing hospitality workers) and SEIU Local 399 (representing building services workers). To ensure its passage, they engaged local religious leaders inspiring the creation of CLUE, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice. Many of…
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USC’s Workers Fight Back
Read more: USC’s Workers Fight BackIn August 1995, several union janitors working at USC were fired and replaced by non-union subcontractors with Service Master, launching a years-long struggle among service workers at USC. The campaign at USC brought together two unions and the forefront of the local labor movement: the Justice for Janitors (SEIU Local 399) campaign and HERE Local 11, which represented food service workers also treated by USC’s subcontracting practices. Both unions had prioritized organizing immigrant workers in…
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On Any Day: A Visit to Four L.A. Neighborhoods
Read more: On Any Day: A Visit to Four L.A. NeighborhoodsDuring the 1994 World Cup, which brought journalists from all over the world to Los Angeles, the Tourism Industry Development Council (TIDC, later known as the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, or LAANE) organized a bus tour, so that visiting journalists could “come with us into our city and meet its people.” They spotlighted four Los Angeles working class neighborhoods, East Los Angeles, Pico Union, Koreatown, and South Central, and coordinated visits with…
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City on the Edge
Read more: City on the EdgeProduced by labor filmmaker and documentarian David Koff, City on the Edge criticized the low-wage policies of the tourism industry and challenged political leaders to embrace equitable development. Released after the violent assault of Rodney King by LAPD officers, and shortly before the 1992 Uprising that followed their acquittals, the film drew attention to the deep inequalities in the city that were impacting its image and reputation, seemingly anticipating the civil unrest that would follow.…
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Jobs with Peace
Read more: Jobs with PeaceHow can progressive political movements win power in geographically expansive and multiracial cities like Los Angeles? The answer, according to the Los Angeles Jobs with Peace campaign was “coalition architecture,” an intentional strategy to link the interests of organized labor with the peace movement, the women’s movement, and the African American civil rights movement through the shared goal of creating good jobs for all by redirecting money from military to domestic spending. In 1984 and…
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Claiming the right to full union membership
Read more: Claiming the right to full union membershipIn 1978 members of HERE Local 11 launched a campaign to unseat long-time union leader Andrew “Scotty” Allan. United Workers of Local 11 ran a multiracial slate of men and women committed to greater member participation in the 20,000 member union. Their candidate for the office of secretary-treasurer was Daniel Ruiz, a resident immigrant and respected leader among the workers at the Hyatt hotel. However, the election committee of Local 11, citing the constitution of…
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United Workers of Local 11
Read more: United Workers of Local 11During the 1970s, the Hotel and Restaurant Employees union (HERE) Local 11 in Los Angeles was losing power as restaurant owners dropped their union contracts and hotels cut wages and benefits. In 1978 a multiracial group of members calling themselves United Workers of Local 11 challenged the union’s long-serving leader Scotty Allan. The group distributed campaign flyers accusing union leaders of making backroom deals with employers and ignoring the concerns of the Spanish-speaking majority of…