After more than a year and a half of negotiations, food, beverage and retail workers at Long Beach Airport have a new contract with increased pay and other benefits.
Airport workers won over $10.50 in wages over five years, a pension fund, a legal fund and a hospitality training academy among other benefits, according to Maria Hernandez, a spokesperson for Unite Here Local 11, the union representing the airport workers.
The new contract with Paradies Lagardère, the company that operates the retail and restaurant spaces in the airport’s two concourses, was ratified by workers in October, according to Unite Here spokesperson Maria Hernandez.
“We’re proud that airport workers in Long Beach have come to an agreement. They are an example of what can happen when bosses listen to their workers. Unlike the Hotel Maya who has repeatedly met its workers with violence, and failed to sign the contract hotel workers are asking for.”
The union also represents thousands of hotel workers, including at the Maya in Downtown. Hotel workers have staged numerous protests, two of which have resulted in clashes with guests.
Paradies, an international company with over 100 stores across the U.S. as well as in Canada and Puerto Rico, did not respond to requests for comment.
The workers originally unionized in 2015, but until earlier this year were severely unorganized, Nathan Hunter, a cook at the airport, said during an August rally.
The workers’ previous contract expired in spring 2022, according to Sandra Rodriguez, who has been a retail worker at the airport for 10 years.