UNITE HERE Local 11, Ritz-Carlton workers, and Pasadena community members launched the signature gathering campaign for an initiative to control condominium development at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The initiative seeks to strengthen existing zoning language to preserve the Huntington Hotel and the unique character of the surrounding neighborhoods. If successful, the initiative will also protect hotel workers' jobs from potential condo conversions or new high-density residential development.
The Huntington Hotel (currently known as Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel) was originally designed by nationally prominent architects near the turn of the 20th Century. Although razed and rebuilt as a replica, the hotel is the last remaining resort hotel of historical significance in Pasadena. It is located in one of Pasadena's most established neighborhoods, and is currently in the process of being sold to Hong Kong-based Great Eagle Holdings Limited.
LACERA, the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, has owned the hotel since 1994. The sale to Great Eagle Holdings is expected to close January 8, 2008. "When the new owner takes over and Marriott is out, we'll have no job protections as workers. The initiative is a way to send the new owner a strong message -- the community is concerned about what happens inside and outside the hotel," says Steve Strong, bellman at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel. In the past 5 years, UNITE HERE has seen high-end hotels across the country convert partially or sometimes entirely into condominiums. These changes often cost hotel workers their jobs.
The initiative seeks to uphold the integrity of the hotel and the surrounding community by requiring that any new residential development at the Huntington Hotel (Planned Development-15) conform to residential zoning requirements consistent with the surrounding neighborhoods.
UNITE HERE Local 11 represents over 10,000 hotel, food service, laundry, airport and stadium workers in the Los Angeles area. Local 11 has been assisting the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel's non-managerial employees to organize for over a year.
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