Long Beach hotel workers led a candlelight march Thursday at the local Renaissance Hotel Promenade, asking city leaders to pass legislation to protect hotel workers from excessive workloads and sexual harassment.
“We want to bring awareness to the issues that are being faced by the Long Beach hotel workers,” said Adan Alvarez, a member of the Long Beach Coalition for Good Jobs and a Healthy Community coalition. He said there are many hotel workers who live in Long Beach, so it’s an issue that city leaders shouldn’t ignore.
At the march, Councilwoman Lena Gonzales called on other city leaders to support protecting women hotel workers because a lack of protections in the work place can lead to serious public health risks, she said.
The march was attended by the Stand with Women Against Abuse Coalition and more than 50 community supporters. It was part of the Housekeeper’s Global Week of Action featuring hotel housekeepers in 13 cities across the U.S. and Canada holding rallies protesting women worker’s poor wages and lack of workplace safety.
Housekeepers in more than 30 nations are holding similar protests this week to fight for better treatment throughout the global hotel industry.
The Stand with Women Against Abuse Campaign coalition is circulating an online petition at http://www.longbeachcoalition.org/home-page-link/ to support local policies that will manage housekeepers’ workloads and provide security measures to shield women workers from harassment.