Timeline: Building Power for Hotel Workers

HERE Local 11 was formed from the merger of separate locals of bartenders, waiters, waitresses, and other occupations in the hotel and restaurant industry. Combining craft locals was intended to bring greater collective power to union members, but in Los Angeles, it led to a split between leadership dominated by bartenders (who were predominantly men) and the largely female, Spanish-speaking members in other areas of the industry.

By the 1970s, HERE locals across the region were in decline as locally owned hotels converted into corporate chains and restaurants went non-union. In HERE Local 11, union members faced off against their own leadership to demand a greater role of the Spanish-speaking majority of members, and more effective organizing. Eventually, union organizer María Elena Durazo led a reform slate to election victory and began to rebuild the local.

This timeline describes how hotel workers built the collective power to fight back.

1978

The right to run for office

Blue and tan image of man in a suit. Caption in image reads "Secretary-Treasurer Daniel Ruiz"

In 1978, a group of Local 11 members, including Daniel Ruiz, a resident immigrant and leader at the Hyatt Hotel, challenged the long-serving leader of the union, Scotty Allan. Running as United Workers of Local 11, they challenged a union rule that only U.S. citizens could run for office. United Workers of Local 11 succeeded in getting the rule overturned, but Allan won the election.

1982-1986

Demanding translations

When local union leaders rejected a demand by Spanish-speaking members for translation at membership meetings, dissidents sued with the help of the ACLU. In 1986, a court ordered Local 11 to provide translations and inform members they had a right to fully participate in their union.

1987-1989

New leadership

Black and white image of photo negative of a portrait of Maria Elena Durazo — Hotel union leader Maria Elena Durazo, 1989. UCLA Library Special Collections.

In 1987, former staff member Maria Elena Durazo challenged Scotty Allen for the union’s top leadership position. Citing voting irregularities, the international union placed the local in trusteeship, removed Allan and his supporters, and hired Durazo as an organizer. Membership meetings were conducted in Spanish and English and workers were trained to confront management themselves rather than depend on staff to represent them. In 1989, Durazo was elected to the local’s top leadership position.

1990s

Member organizers

Black and white image of a man in a chef's coat in what appears to be an elegant ballroom with balconies above. The man is pointing to a large piece of paper on a easel that says "AGENDA" and lists Introduction; Survey Results; Negotiations Report; Options; Winning Plan; Committee; Rally; Pictures - all written in Spanish and English. — A Local 11 member points to an agenda at a meeting in a hotel ballroom. UNITE-HERE Local 11 Archives.

With new leadership, Local 11 developed a system of shop stewards, workers who were leaders among their peers and represent the union in the workplace. These workplace leaders were key to Local 11’s campaign to increase union power in the hotel industry.

1993

New Otani Boycott

Local 11 launched an international boycott of the New Otani Hotel, the first non-union hotel built in downtown Los Angeles. In 2015, a 20-year long battle with the New Otani (now called the Downtown DoubleTree) came to a victorious end as the workers finally won a union contract with the hotel.

1993

LAANE

Aiming to develop creative ways to address the low-wage model of L.A.’s tourism industry, Local 11 and allies launched the Tourism Industry Development Council. Later renamed as Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), the organization developed strategic research and action plans, and built political coalitions to counter the dominance of corporate interests in City Hall.

1995-1997

Living Wage Campaign

Color photograph of a small group standing on the steps of LA City Hall. In front are three women workers, behind them, three men in suits. — Father Richard Gillett and Rev. James Lawson Jr. of CLUE join workers at a lobbying action Los Angeles City Hall in 1996. Photo by Linda A. Lotz.

Local 11 joined with the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) and other labor groups to advocate for a citywide “living wage” above the federal minimum wage. The Living Wage Campaign was part of a strategy to address low wages through municipal political action.

Learn more about the Living Wage campaign here.

1996-1999

Taking on USC

A young woman raises her fist at a rally on the USC campus. In front of her, workers hold a banner reading "Justice for Janitors" and other carry picket signs for Local 11 (HERE) — SEIU-USWW Archives, UCLA Library Special Collections.

Workers at USC residence halls fought to prevent outsourcing of their jobs to low-wage contractors, alongside janitorial workers of SEIU. Through mass demonstrations, civil disobedience actions, and a hunger strike, HERE Local 11 charged USC’s administration with contributing to poverty in the working-class neighborhoods surrounding its campus, and challenged the university to live up to its public image.

2000

Santa Monica Living Wage

After successfully advocating for a living wage ordinance in Los Angeles, LAANE and HERE Locals 11 and 814 pushed for a similar law in Santa Monica. Hotel employers there tried and failed to pass a deceptively worded ballot initiative that promised a living wage (Prop KK), but actually prevented one. After an intense campaign, voters defeated Prop KK and later, the City Council passed a living wage ordinance affecting large employers in the coastal business zone.

2002-2003

Expanding into Santa Monica

HERE Local 814 represented workers in Santa Monica and at LAX, but had been losing membership during the 1980s and 1990s. Local 11 staff and members helped rebuild Local 814, and following a trusteeship, 814 merged into Local 11.

2003

Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride

A group of people, many wearing white shirts and lanyards, gathers in front of a building for a photograph. In front, a group of workers holds a banner reading "Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride 2003, Los Angeles California September 20-October 4." — Freedom Riders from Los Angeles pose for a photo en route to Washington D.C. during the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride in 2003. UNITE-HERE Local 11 Archives, UCLA Library Special Collections.

In support of federal immigration reform proposals, Local 11 leaders and members joined other activists in cross-country bus rides to highlight the plight of undocumented workers. Modeled on the civil rights era Freedom Rides, the actions culminated in large protests in Washington D.C. and New York. Learn more

2004-2006

10-Cities Contract Campaign

street level view of a civil disobedience action downtown. photo taken over the shoulder of people sitting in a circle in the middle of an intersection with an inner ring of hotel beds — Hotel workers and allies in civil disobedience action downtown, 2004. LAANE Archives, UCLA Library Special Collections.

Hotel workers in 10 cities in the U.S. and Canada simultaneously fought for higher standards, new contracts, and organizing rights from international hotel chains. In Los Angeles, hotel workers and allies used public protest and civil disobedience to put pressure on employers and local politicians.

2006

Century Blvd. Mass Civil Disobedience

a group of marchers, lead by people wearing bright orange safety vests, pass under large street signs reading "Arriving Flights," "Departing Flights," and "To Highway 1, Sepulveda Boulevard." behind the march (the end of which is not visible) looms the decorative statues at the gateway to LAX. — UNITE-HERE Local 11 Archives, UCLA Library Special Collections.

In an effort to organize hotels around Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and link immigrant and labor rights, Local 11 organized a massive civil disobedience action along Century Blvd. Hotel workers, union and community allies, and elected officials marched and then occupied the busy street. Learn more

2012

Workers stand closely together holding up an orange and yellow quilt. A brown-skinned woman in the foreground looks off into the distance. She is wearing a maid's uniform with a name tag and a UNITE-HERE button. — UNITE-HERE Local 11 Archives, UCLA Library Special Collections.

Long Beach Living Wage

After a massive voter-mobilization drive, Long Beach voters pass Prop N, a living wage for hospitality workers.

2015

Raise the Wage Coalition

In collaboration with partners at LAANE, Local 11 won a multi-year fight to raise the minimum wage for hospitality workers in Los Angeles.

In 2016, Local 631 in Arizona joined locals in Santa Monica, Long Beach, and Orange County to form UNITE HERE Local 11, which today represents some 32,000 hospitality workers. Most recently, Local 11 lined up over 60 contracts to expire in the same year, 2023, waging a months-long strike across Southern California with the goal to lift the low standards of service workers as the city of Los Angeles prepares for the World Cup in 2026 and the Olympics in 2028.