With New Hotel License Requirement Looming, Union Raises Alleged Worker Abuses at Aimbridge-Operated Hotels with LA Police Commission

Findings of worker rights violations, now under investigation, may imperil major hotel operator's ability to manage hotels in Los Angeles

For the first time since the law’s passage late last year, a hotel operator’s alleged conduct may put at risk its ability to obtain a license required by the Los Angeles Responsible Hotels Ordinance. The hospitality workers’ union, UNITE HERE Local 11, has sent letters to the Los Angeles Police Commission to inform it of allegations of worker rights abuses at two hotels operated by Aimbridge Hospitality: Holiday Inn LAX and the San Pedro DoubleTree. The Police Commission is responsible for considering license applications from hotel operators under the Ordinance’s new hotel permitting scheme. Permits may be denied based on findings of violations of worker rights.

The Holiday Inn LAX is among a group of hotels under investigation by the Los Angeles District Attorney and the California Labor Commissioner for alleged violations of wage theft and child labor laws, as well as other state wage and hour laws. Recently arrived migrant workers living in a homeless shelter on Skid Row reported these potential violations to law enforcement agencies in October, after they were hired to replace striking union workers at several area hotels. In a detailed report published late last year, the LA Times reported that one 17-year-old missed two days of high school in order to work at Holiday Inn LAX. The District Attorney and Labor Commissioner are also investigating the Aimbridge-operated Hilton Pasadena.

At the Aimbridge-operated San Pedro DoubleTree, hotel housekeepers filed a class-action civil lawsuit against the San Pedro DoubleTree in October, alleging that the Hotel violated the Los Angeles Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance by failing to consistently provide housekeepers with panic buttons, failing to hire around-the-clock security personnel as required, and failing to meet several other requirements of the security provisions of the law. Any recently found violations of the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance, state wage law, or state child labor laws, would serve as grounds for denial of an operating license.

The letters asked the Board of Police Commissioners to consider the alleged abuses and pending investigations or claims into consideration in evaluating the permit applications of those two hotels.

In addition to sending letters to the Board, UNITE HERE Local 11 on Monday called for a boycott of area Aimbridge hotels, dubbing the operator “Shamebridge.”