Los Angeles — Elected officials, community groups and clergy vow to honor request “to avoid eating, meeting or sleeping” at hotels involved in the labor dispute to put financial pressure on the Hotel Employer’s Council, comprised of nine luxury hotels in the city. Until date, without a boycott announcement, hotels have lost approximately $1 million dollars since the labor dispute began last Spring.

WHO:

• Hotel workers
• Representatives of organizations that have pledged to boycott hotels due to the on-going labor dispute
• Local and state elected officials including: Council members Alex Padilla, Jan Perry, Martin Ludlow, Antonio Villaraigosa, Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, and Senator Richard Alarcon
• Maria Elena Durazo, President, UNITE HERE Local 11

WHAT: Official boycott public announcement followed by informational picket line

WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 11, 2004 — 11:00 A.M.

WHERE: Fifth & Flower Streets (Northwest Corner, near Bonaventure Hotel)

WHY: Housekeepers, cooks, servers, dishwashers, bellmen, front desk and PBX workers are calling for a boycott of the nine luxury hotels of the L.A. Hotel Employer’s Council after six months of threats and intimidation, the fear of an employer lockout, and termination of the workers’ union contract. Employers want workers to back down from their demands for humane workloads, employer paid health insurance, livable wages and access to hotel jobs for the African American community.

The hotels affected by the boycott are: Millennium Biltmore, Bonaventure, Hyatt Regency, Wilshire Grand, Regent Beverly Wilshire, Century Plaza, St. Regis, Hyatt West Hollywood, and the Sheraton Universal.