Workers Monday declared a boycott of the Four Points Sheraton LAX, urging prospective clients to refrain from doing business at the hotel until management negotiates a fair contract. Workers are accusing hotel owner and operator American Property Management Corporation (APMC) of refusing to negotiate in good faith and blocking efforts to improve working conditions.
Several clients of the Four Points have expressed support for the workers’ position and have pledged to pull their business from the hotel if conditions do not change, including the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), which recently adopted a resolution to support local hotel industry workers and their families. The District spent approximately $393,000 at three hotels last year, including the Four Points Sheraton, that are now under union boycott and has spent about $185,000 on those hotels this year alone.
The Four Points is the second hotel on Century Boulevard where a boycott is underway. The LAX Hilton, which has been under boycott since the fall of 2006, has lost nearly $5 million in anticipated business as a result of the boycott.
“I stand by the workers in calling a boycott of the Four Points LAX,” said Monica Garcia, LAUSD Board President. “Many of the parents and guardians of our students work in the hotel industry and rely on fair working conditions and adequate health care for themselves and their families.”
Four Points workers won union recognition last September after a nearly year-long struggle with the company involving alleged worker intimidation and surveillance on the part of hotel management against union supporters. During the last five months, workers have been fighting to get their first contract, but the hotel has effectively blocked substantial progress, attending only four negotiation sessions and tentatively agreeing to only four provisions.
The general manager at the hotel refused to comment to Our Weekly on the boycott, referring calls to the hotel’s lawyers. However, he refused to provide the attorney’s contact information saying only that they would release a statement, when they were ready.
APMC has been ranked the 15th largest hotel owner in the United States according to Hotel Business Magazine (September 2005) and, according to APMC, generates over $350 million in annual revenue.
