Pasadena hotel workers set to strike hours before Rose Parade

Pasadena hotel workers will walk off the job

Pasadena cooks, room attendants and other workers plan to walk off the job at dawn on New Year's Eve.

PASADENA, Calif. - Cooks, room attendants and other workers at the Hilton Pasadena and Hyatt Place Pasadena will walk off the job at dawn on New Year's Eve, as Pasadena gets ready to host the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl, union officials said Wednesday.

Workers across Los Angeles hotels have been engaged in ongoing labor disputes with employers since July, in what Unite Here Local 11 calls the largest hotel worker strike in modern history.

The workers' primary goals include wage increases to keep pace with the soaring cost of housing in Los Angeles, quality and affordable health insurance and humane workloads, according to Unite Here Local 11, which staged walkouts at hotels across Southern California and Arizona over the summer.

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Pasadena hotel works to strike

Workers at the Hilton Pasadena and Hyatt Place Pasadena are set to walk off the job at dawn on New Year's Eve.

Representatives for Aimbridge Hospitality and Ensemble Hospitality, respective operators of the Hilton Pasadena and Hyatt Place Pasadena, did not immediately respond to requests for comment left by City News Service.

Pasadena is home to the Rose Bowl and Rose Parade, which take place Jan. 1. The escalating labor dispute will impact guests of the Hilton and Hyatt Place Pasadena during these events, given that no agreement has been reached at these properties, according to the union.

Unite Here says the strike comes after numerous tentative contract agreements were reached across Los Angeles and Orange County. Major Marriott and Hilton properties across Southern California, such the JW Marriott and Hilton Irvine, reached agreements with their workers in the past month.

However, Aimbridge and Ensemble have "consistently refused to meet the new hotel contract standards," the union said, alleging that Ensemble's Hotel Maya in Long Beach has recently come under fire "for being the site of violence against a hotel employee for the second time since August."

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The workers, also including dishwashers, servers, bellmen and front desk agents, will conduct a New Year's Eve parade of their own beginning at 6 p.m. at the Hilton Pasadena, according to the labor union.

Unite Here Local 11 says it represents more than 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona who are employed in hotels, restaurants, universities, convention centers and airports.