Dozens of hospitality workers who work at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott, owned by the University of California Retirement System, and other hotels rallied outside and testified at the UC Regents meeting in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Hotel workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 11, called attention to the labor dispute at the UC Retirement System-owned hotel, the Laguna Cliffs Marriott, where workers have been on strike this summer fighting for livable wages and improved benefits.

Jose Preciado, who works at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott addressed the UC Regents and said, “We see you at this hotel and at the restaurant. We know many of you by name. We know that we create the best experience for the guests that makes Laguna Cliffs Marriott a world-class hotel. Please, tell Aimbridge Hospitality to settle a livable contract with us so that the damage the management is causing will come to an end.”

Ada Briceño, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11 addressed the UC Regents, “Congresspeople, dozens of elected leaders at every level of government in California, thousands of community members in Orange County, UNITE HERE Local 11’s members, UAW members, AFSCME members, UC student leaders, and members of the faith communities have all written to the Regents to express their concern about the impact of this dispute. And still, over two months into their labor dispute, hotel workers who make barely enough to survive on two jobs are laboring out-of-contract at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott. These workers make your pension investment possible, and they don’t even have a defined-benefit pension themselves.”

The Union filed multiple unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against UC Retirement System and its agent for the Marriott Laguna Cliffs, Aimbridge Hospitality.

UNITE HERE Local 11 urged the UC Regents to fulfill its fiduciary duty to protect the University of California Retirement Plan investments and the integrity of the University of California by working to resolve the escalating labor disputes at its hotel. The stability of these investments, which are used to support its workers, students, and retirees, depends on the system’s effective management of Environmental, Social and Governance risks.

UNITE HERE Local 11 is a labor union representing more than 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona that work in hotels, restaurants, universities, convention centers and airports.

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