Worker strikes hit more hotels, this time near Disneyland

Hundreds of workers at four hotels, including two near Disneyland, walked off the job Tuesday, joining a second wave of strikes that kicked off this week.

Starting at 5 a.m., workers from the Hilton Anaheim, the Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort, the Irvine Hilton in Orange County and the Hyatt Regency near Los Angeles International Airport walked out, demanding higher pay and better benefits. The action comes a day after thousands of workers at eight hotels near LAX also walked off the job.

After contracts expired June 30, Unite Here Local 11-represented workers at more than 60 hotels authorized what could be the largest U.S. strike for the industry in recent memory. Not all hotel workers have walked out, per a strategic rollout decision made by union leadership. The walkouts this week come after a three-day strike hit hotels in downtown Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Orange County over the busy Fourth of July weekend.

The union represents 32,000 workers in the industry in Southern California and Arizona and has been negotiating a new contract since April. The union has proposed an immediate $5 hourly wage increase and $3-an-hour boost for each of the remaining two years of their three-year contract.

Keith Grossman, an attorney with Hirschfeld Kraemer, one of two firms representing a coalition of 44 Southern California hotels, has said the group has offered meaningful wage increases, proposing raises of $2.50 an hour in the first 12 months and $6.25 over four years. Grossman said the union has yet to respond to this proposal.

“Hotel workers across Santa Monica, DTLA, LAX, to Beverly Hills, Anaheim, and Irvine are more united than ever to fight for a contract that allows them to live in the city where they work,” said Kurt Petersen, co-president of Unite Here Local 11, in a written statement.

Cecilia Hernandez lives in Anaheim with her three children and husband and has worked in housekeeping at the Sheraton Park hotel for 23 years. About a year and a half ago, she was diagnosed with throat cancer.

“It’s difficult because it’s something that changes your whole way of life. There are days you can’t get up. You can’t eat. It affects your immune system and your entire family environment,” said Hernandez, who wants to ensure that her health insurance costs stay low for her radiation treatments.

Javier Espinoza-Arjón, who works nearby at the Hilton Anaheim as a hotline cook, has similar concerns. He starts his commute at 3:20 a.m. from Corona to Anaheim for his 4:30 a.m.-1 p.m. shift. After working at the hotel for 39 years, his hands have weathered. He is hoping for higher wages and a better pension plan.

“We want higher pension plans because with the amount of funding that the government gives, we have to work our entire lives to retire,” Espinoza-Arjón said.

The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in downtown L.A., the union’s biggest employer, with more than 600 workers, reached a tentative deal June 28 and is the only hotel that has averted a strike. The union has urged other employers to adopt that agreement.

Grossman said that the Coordinated Bargaining Group offered the union two dates —Friday and July 18 — to resume bargaining and has received no response.

“UNITE HERE Local 11’s intransigence and unwillingness to meet is hurting our employees and continues to damage Los Angeles’s reputation with tourists,” said Grossman in a written statement. “It’s clear that from Day One, Local 11 only wanted to strike and was not focused on the interests of our employees or the City.”

According to union spokeswoman Maria Hernandez, no new bargaining sessions have been scheduled. “We’re consulting with the organizing committee to see what they want to do, but ultimately what the workers want is for them to sign the Bonaventure deal.”

Anaheim’s hotels play a significant role in housing guests who come to the city for conferences, sports entertainment, and Disneyland tourism. A few weeks ago, the Anaheim Convention Center welcomed thousands of attendees and hundreds of brand exhibitors to VidCon, YouTube’s annual digital culture and creator conference. The growth in popularity of the Angels’ baseball player Shohei Ohtani has also spiked international interest and travel from Japan to Southern California. The overall visitor economy makes up 50% to 60% of Anaheim’s annual tax revenue through occupancy, sales and property taxes.

While three other hotels in the Disneyland area — Disney Grand Californian Hotel, Disneyland Hotel, and Disneyland Paradise Pier Hotel — are also members of the Unite Here Local 11 union, they have a separate contract that does not expire until Jan. 31, 2026.