Now hotelier André Balazs has signed off on pact that “sets a new standard for boutique hotels.”
UNITE HERE Local 11, which represents more than 32,000 hospitality employees, including those at the legendary Sunset Strip lodging, said the agreement “sets a new standard for boutique hotels.”
The deal features 25 percent wage increase for returning non-tipped workers (housekeepers will earn $25 an hour within one year); free family health insurance for workers who work a minimum of 60 hours per month; free legal services for immigration, consumer and tenant issues; and unprecedented protections for immigrants — workers with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Dreamers) or Temporary Protected Status authorizations have five years to return should Congress or the Supreme Court eliminate the programs.
The agreement allows the Chateau clear runway for awards-season events.
Last year’s on-site Gold Party, hosted by Jay-Z and now considered the preeminent invite on Oscar night, was picketed. Afterward, guest Rosario Dawson publicly resolved not to return until employee disputes were “resolved.”
Terms of the new deal will also see workers participate in the union’s pension fund, and the hotel to recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday, making it one of the first hotels to do so. In September 2020, employees shared some systemic workplace concerns, including racial bias in hiring and promotion, racist treatment of guests, as well as racist comments alleged to have been made by the then-managing director toward staff. There is now a new managing director, and multiple civil lawsuits that were subsequently filed alleging racial discrimination have since been settled.
The Chateau has — like the rest of the hospitality industry — been severely affected by the pandemic’s economic toll. But also, by the outspoken revolt of its workers, in a field defined by discretion, exposing an unpleasant side of a world-renown institution that prizes its cultivated brand of luxe hedonism and louche cool.
While there had already been fledgling discussions about unionization before the COVID-19 crisis, the inciting incident occurred at its onset, when employees were laid off without severance packages or extended health insurance. Many staffers had been with the company for decades. 248 workers were let go in the spring of 2020. In August, when the hotel unionized, there were 64 employees, 48 of which had been with the hotel pre-Covid.
Walter Almendarez, a bellman with 26 years’ experience and leader of the Chateau organizing effort, said: “I am so proud that my coworkers and I will be returning to work at the Chateau Marmont while providing secure and dignified life for our families.”
