Pasadena hotel workers to strike ahead of Rose Parade

Along with sounds of merriment and paradegoers, Pasadena may also be hearing strike chants on New Year’s weekend. 

The Unite Here Local 11 Union announced that hospitality workers at the Hilton and Hyatt Place in Pasadena are planning to strike on New Year’s Eve ahead of the Tournament of Roses Parade as a part of an ongoing labor dispute at hotels across the Los Angeles area.

While some hotel operators and the Union have reached an agreement, Unite Here Local 11 says the Hilton and Hyatt Place in Pasadena have not. 

“We don’t make enough money to support our families,” Hilton Pasadena employee Alberto Tostado said. Tostado said he wants “a fair contract with better health insurance so we can afford to live in the city where we work.”

New Year’s weekend is expected to be the biggest for Pasadena in the last three years with the Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl game back without pandemic-era restrictions. 

The City of Pasadena says their hotels are so full that neighboring areas like Glendale and Arcadia are receiving overflow bookings. 

“We have bands that come from other countries, even, other states — we have the football teams, people that want to come out and just enjoy; make a nice vacation out of it, ” Public Information Officer for Pasadena’s Office of the City Manager Lisa Derderian said. “And so many participants in the parade stay at a lot of our hotels and in the surrounding cities.”

Both the City and workers say the strike could have a major impact on visitors. 

“They’re paying to get a good service from all the hotel — from housekeeping, kitchen, servers — and we’re not here, so they’re not going to get what they’re expecting,” Tostado said. 

Derderian said she and the City of Pasadena “respect what the unions are trying to do,” but asks that they “please, keep it legal because we will have to enforce if need be.”