Westin LAX and Union End Dispute
By Muhammed El-Hasan
The Westin LAX and a labor union agreed to end their two-year dispute, with the hotel accepting the union as the bargaining agent of its workers, both sides said Thursday.
UNITE HERE Local 11 will represent the hotel’s 220 non-management employees in contract negotiations after workers voted to unionize, union spokeswoman Paulina Gonzalez said.
"I hope that the other hotels on the strip, especially the LAX Hilton, will take this as a sign that an employer can do right by their employees and can be profitable at the same time,” said Gonzalez, whose union chapter represents 13,000 hotel and food service workers in the Los Angeles area.
With 740 rooms, the Westin is one of the largest hotels on LAX’s Century Boulevard corridor.
For the past two years, the union has led pickets and even a hunger strike in front of the Westin and Hilton. Pickets continue in front of the Hilton.
In September 2006, about 300 pickets were arrested for civil disobedience in front of the two hotels.
The agreement announced Thursday ends UNITE HERE’s boycott of the Westin LAX, which will be added to the union’s national list of recommended hotels.
Read the rest of the article in Friday's Daily Breeze.