Anaheim councilman arrested in civil disobedience with protesting hotel workers
About 20 people, including Councilman Jose Moreno, were arrested in Anaheim on Thursday, Jan. 24, as they blocked traffic during a protest for higher wages for the city’s hotel workers.
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Hundreds of the workers, represented by Unite Here Local 11, demonstrated throughout the day near the Anaheim Convention Center, a high-visibility spot where about 100,000 people were expected to attend the National Association of Music Merchants convention over the next several days.
Union workers at the Anaheim Hilton and Sheraton Park, also near the convention center, have been without a contract since Nov. 30, and are unsatisfied with the hotels’ offers after months of negotiations, a Unite Here news release said.
Officials at the Anaheim Hilton and Sheraton Park could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday evening.
“Welcome to Anaheim, where the work is dignified and where we stand with our families today and tomorrow,” Moreno said as he spoke to the crowd of hundreds of protesters before he was arrested.
Along with Moreno, clergy members, hotel workers and union leaders sat in middle of the busy intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Katella Avenue for about 10 minutes during the evening commute, holding Unite Here Local 11 posters depicting a raised fist clenching a flower with the words “Raise OC.”
“O.C. is changing. It has been changing and it will change, and right in the middle of that are the hotel workers,” Unite Here Local 11 Co-President Ada Briceno said. She was among the 21 arrested.
Those detained were taken to a nearby mobile booking station and then cited and released for municipal code violations for blocking an intersection, Anaheim Police Sgt. Jeff Mundy said.
“I don’t believe that is fair for a business,” Councilman Trevor O’Neil said of the union holding public protests,”to force their hand like that and force them to pay more than market rate.”
The protests are part of a larger, months-long effort by Unite Here Local 11 and other unions that represent Southern California entertainment and hospitality workers to call attention to what they say are unlivable wages and and other labor issues.
“I am here for the future of my children,” Andrea Barrera, who has been working at the Sheraton Park for two years, said. “The cost of living is really high in the city and we need to make more money.”
In Anaheim, a coalition of unions backed a November ballot measure that requires Anaheim Resort District businesses that have received city subsidies to raise their minimum wage to $15 an hour this year with annual $1 increase until 2022. It won with more than 54 percent of the vote, but only affects a small number of businesses. It does not apply to the Anaheim Hilton or Sheraton Park.
In December, workers at about two dozen Southern California hotels threatened a strike, but since then 14 of them have reached agreements on new contracts.