Striking Workers at Los Angeles Hotel, Now a Homeless Shelter, Urge City to Help

Dozens of striking hospitality workers gathered Feb. 14 at City Hall to implore officials to intervene in what they describe as untenable working conditions at LA Grand Hotel. Since 2021, the 500-room hotel has been used as an interim homeless shelter, first under the county’s pandemic-era Project Room Key, then under Inside Safe, Mayor Karen Bass’ signature homelessness initiative. During public comments at the City Council meeting, Unite Here Local 11 members, almost all of them senior-age veteran employees, addressed the council, mostly in Spanish. They described violence, threats, unsafe conditions, understaffing—and the uncertainty that lies ahead after eight months of stalled contract negotiations....