The fight isn’t over for hotel workers in Los Angeles, but the excitement was palpable Monday morning as their union celebrated victory.

At the Intercontinental Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, Unite HERE Local 11 announced that the union has reached an agreement with 34 hotels in Los Angeles on behalf of its workers. Strikes over working conditions and wages at many of the hotels in Los Angeles have been staged by the union since July 2023, and they were rewarded with significant wage increases.

Chants of “When we strike, we win” rang out, and flags with the union’s branding waved through the air as representatives of the union spoke with jovial enthusiasm celebrating the agreement. 

“We are here today to say that we have won,” Unite Here 11 co-president Kurt Peterson said. “Today, we say to Los Angeles that this fight was worth it.”

The new agreement is highlighted by a $5 per hour minimum wage increase in the first year, followed by a $10 minimum wage increase for workers at the hotels which will represent a living wage for many. It represents a 40 to 50 percent increase for room attendants, line cooks, and other non-tipped workers.

It will also provide medical insurance to workers at no more than $20 for family insurance, something that was important to many of the workers.

30-year Miramar Santa Monica employee Arturo Wesso was one of the workers who spoke about what the victory meant to him. Wesso was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in 2020 and was told that it was terminal. He credits the treatment that he was able to afford thanks to the health insurance that he had with his being alive today.

“I was able to beat cancer with the help of God and the health insurance that didn’t make me pay a penny [for my treatments],” Wesso said in Spanish to a cheering crowd. “That’s why I have the strength to continue this fight and win.”

Peterson said that this is an “unprecedented agreement in every way, from wages, pension, and healthcare to job security, to fair staffing guarantees,” but noted that perhaps the most important piece of the contract is its expiration date. The agreement will run until Jan. 15, 2028, giving workers leverage in their next contract bargain just before the upcoming 2028 Olympics.

One of the motives of the fight was the ability for hotel workers to live in the cities that they work in with living costs soaring, but the strike that began almost 9 months ago has been met with resistance at every turn, some of it being violent.

While the union is celebrating a monumental win in the fight, there are still hotels that have not come to an agreement with workers including Proper Santa Monica and Hotel June in West Los Angeles — whose workers walked out last week.

“They stand more resolute today than the day they walked out,” Peterson said of those still on strike. “And the entire city owes [them] an enormous debt for [their] courage.”