‘Posada’ targets Doubletree Hotel
About 150 local activists took to the streets here Monday night, marching in a traditional Mexican “posada” to the Doubletree Guest Suites Hotel on Fourth Street, where labor organizers have called for unionization.
The Christian-themed event was designed to promote workers’ rights and unionization. It was organized by officials from St. Anne’s Church and Santa Monicans Allied for responsible Tourism, a nonprofit pushing for a higher minimum wage in the city.
Starting at the SMART offices at Sixth Street and Colorado Boulevard, the procession moved down Fourth Street, across the freeway and to the doorstep of the Public Safety Facility building. It then proceeded to the footstep of the Doubletree, before turning around and heading back to where it started.
But this particular posada had a social justice theme. Jesus and Mary had to leave their loved ones in Mexico, contend with and be rejected by hostile border guards and, once in the United States, work for villainous managers. They eventually found justice with the support of the community, church and union.
Avelino Alvarez, 48, played the part of Joseph in the procession. He said he was participating to promote unionization. As a cook at the Fairmont-Miramar Hotel, Alvarez is already a member of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 11, which aims to organize all local luxury hotels.
414,“I’m here to support the Doubletree workers, since they don’t have any respect, any benefits,” said Alvarez, a Santa Monica resident.
Only three or four of those in the procession were Doubletree workers, organizers said. One was Maria Cortez, 37, a housekeeper at the Doubletree for the past seven years. Cortez said through a translator that she is required to clean 14 suites a day, whereas unionized housekeepers at other hotels clean 15 smaller rooms a day.
And the pay is low, she added.
“It’s not enough — not even to save for my kids to go to school,” she said.
In documents distributed to members of the press, SMART spokesman Derek Smith said the Doubletree has a history of mistreating its workers.
“In addition to telling an important story about the injustices endured by immigrant workers, this posada will also draw attention to the Doubletree Guest Suites, which has had a notorious relationship not only with its workers, but with the community as well. Truly, there is no room for justice at this inn,” a press release reads.
Also included in press materials is a timeline of events highlighting, among other things, various charges filed by the union against the Doubletree with the National Labor Relations Board, a federal agency that polices labor law. However, that timeline is misleading because it leaves out the rulings by NLRB officials — who agreed the charges should be heard, but later found their was no violation.
Hotel officials did not return calls seeking comment. In the past, they have accused union officials of using threats and other tactics in their quest to organize workers.
Also attending the event was Kurt Petersen, HERE’s organizing director, and Vivian Rothstein, a SMART official, among others. Rothstein said her group plans to present a higher minimum wage proposal to the City Council on Jan. 13.
In 2002, a separate measure, called the “living wage,” was narrowly defeated at the polls. That law would have required businesses along the beach that gross more than $5 million each year to pay workers $10.50 per hour or $12.25 without benefits. However, under that law, unionized businesses would have been exempt from paying the living wage, giving large businesses an incentive to unionize.
Supporters have accused opponents of foul play in defeating the measure and a proposal to amend local procedures is being considered by City Hall leaders. Those complaints were largely spurred by a spate of misleading slate mailers sent out immediately before the election that indicated school and women’s’ rights groups, as well as various Democratic candidates, were against the living wage.
While that matter plays itself out, Rothstein said Monday’s procession was an important opportunity to show solidarity in the community.
“The St. Anne’s community has been very involved in standing up for a living wage,” she said. “This is a way of combining the visions for social justice.”
Vivian Rothstein
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 24, 2003. Read the original PDF.