Mayor Eric Garcetti on July 7 was joined by UNITE HERE Local 11 to sign the Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance, ensuring hotel workers’ safety, fair compensation and improvement of the general work environment.

“Hotel workers are on the frontlines of our economic recovery, and their work uplifts Los Angeles and is part of what makes this city an amazing place to visit,” Garcetti said. “I am proud to sign this ordinance into law, allowing mothers to spend more time with their children and to feel safe when walking into their place of work.”

The law provides for security measures to protect hotel workers from sexual assault and threatening conduct, as well as fair compensation through a wage premium for heavy workloads in hotels with more than 45 guest rooms.

“Our city’s economy is built around the service industry and hotel workers are the city’s backbone,” Councilman Kevin De Leon, 14th District, said. “Our City Council embraced the legislative authority granted to us by the voters of Los Angeles to ensure that they have a safe workplace and the fair compensation that they deserve.”

“The city’s economic recovery is only as good as that of its hospitality workers. This law will make sure that recovery is fair by providing better wages and protections for some of the workers who bore the brunt of the pandemic,” UNITE HERE Local 11 co-president Kurt Petersen said. “Thank you to Mayor Garcetti, [the] Los Angeles City Council and [the] workers who shared their stories with thousands of voters to make this possible.”

“As a hotel housekeeper it inspires me to see Mayor Garcetti sign into law the ordinance [that] I and hundreds of other hospitality workers spent months gathering over 100,000 signatures for,” said Isela Ramos, hotel housekeeper and member of UNITE HERE Local 11. “At a time when our rights as women and workers are under attack, this law is proof of the tangible change working people can achieve when we take action in our democracy.”