More than a month into a labor strike, picketing hotel employees in Santa Monica clashed with security guards.
A month ago, protesters gathered at the Viceroy Santa Monica and made their way to the Fairmont Miramar. Private security guards at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel pushed picketing employees to the ground. Phone footage shows Noel Rodriguez, an organizer, having his arm twisted behind his back and being dragged.
“Hotel security assaulted us. They assaulted the workers; they assaulted me and a bunch of other folks. And it was actually the police who stepped in and made them stop and made them respect our right to go in and picket,” he later said.
What happened at Fairmont Miramar Hotel?
Hotel employees on strike held a rally on hotel grounds before moving their demonstration outdoors. Workers said the hotel tried to drown them out by playing loud music throughout the event, as per FOX 11.
The Los Angeles and Orange County hotel employees’ strike began on July 2, and it continues to this day. Workers in the hospitality industry are on strike to improve their financial conditions. They demand greater wages and more generous health and retirement packages.
UNITE HERE Local 11 is the union that speaks for over 15,000 people in the Southern California hospitality industry. More than 60 hotels saw their contracts end this summer, including those operated by Marriott and Hilton.
Union asks Messi to stay away from hotel
Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami colleagues planned on staying at the Santa Monica hotel during their trip to play LAFC. Now, the protesting group is asking Messi to avoid the Fairmont Miramar.
UNITE HERE Local 11 released a statement asking for Messi and his Inter Miami squad to support its cause.
“We have learned that Inter Miami and the great Lionel Messi are coming to Los Angeles this week for a match against LAFC on Sunday. Workers this morning walked out on strike at 13 hotels, including the Fairmont Miramar. Just two weeks ago, workers at the Fairmont Miramar called for a boycott of their hotel after hotel security officers were videoed violently attacking their own employees while they attempted to establish a picket line.
“As housekeepers, cooks, bellmen, and servers, we ask Lionel Messi and his teammates to stand in solidarity with us and stay out of the Fairmont Miramar.”
