Los Angeles City Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martínez and Nithya Raman and Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo were arrested Thursday at a hotel workers protest.
Los Angeles City Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martínez and Nithya Raman and Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo were among scores of people arrested Thursday while participating in a protest organized by Unite Here Local 11, which represents hospitality workers in Southern California.
At the protest, held near Los Angeles International Airport, hundreds of demonstrators filled Century Boulevard, and nearly 200 of them were arrested, according to LAPD Capt. Kelly Muniz. The protest was held after two months of contract negotiations between the union and local hotels, with workers seeking higher wages and healthcare benefits. On June 8, the hotel workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize their leaders to call a strike if their employers didn’t agree to the union’s proposedKurt Petersen, co-president of Unite Here Local 11, said workers could be on strike for the Fourth of July holiday weekend if an agreement is not reached by June 30.
“It’s an action no one takes lightly, getting arrested,” Petersen said. “But folks decided it was necessary to get the attention of the industry.” The protest closed Century Boulevard in both directions between Sepulveda and Airport boulevards for hours before the roadway was reopened around 9 p.m.,“We were here to shed light on the issues working-class Angelenos face,” Soto-Martínez said in a statement, “like a single mother who works as a housekeeper needing to work 17 hours a day to afford housing.”
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