Thread: Police arrest 300 protesters demanding unionization

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanlui ... 633087.htm

Posted on Thu, Sep. 28, 2006

Police arrest protesters demanding unionization at hotels

DAISY NGUYEN
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Police arrested dozens of protesters who sat in the middle of a busy thoroughfare near Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday to demand unionization of mostly immigrant workers at a dozen high-end hotels.

The arrests came after an afternoon of highly choreographed theatrics that included handing rosters of prospective arrestees to officers and training demonstrators to remain calm when they're detained.

Initially, a few thousand protesters gathered along the edges of hotel-lined Century Blvd., listening to music and speeches by activists who demanded unionization for workers and amnesty for an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in the country.

After walking over a mile along the boulevard, forcing the closure of a few lanes, several dozen protesters sat down in the middle of the road in front of the Hilton and Weston hotels.

"Better working conditions for workers!" yelled one protester as police escorted him in plastic handcuffs to a bus.

Those arrested will be taken to several county jail facilities where officers will complete the booking process, said Los Angeles police spokeswoman Mary Grady. Each will be cited for unlawful assembly, said Grady.

Sgt. Lee Sands said 302 people had given police their drivers' license numbers and other personal information in preparation to be arrested, but that a final tally wouldn't be known until late Thursday.

Volunteer arrestees had on yellow and black signs that said "I'm a human being" in English and Spanish.

"I decided to come here today because I want the rest of my people to be OK," said Elena Martinez, 56, a hotel worker and naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Mexico who had volunteered to be arrested.

At least it is being reported as it was, staged and organized. They all ought to be embarrassed. What a waste of time and money.

The protesters should pay fines equal to the tax payer funds utilized to pay law enforcement for this fiasco! Why should the local tax payers foot the bill?

This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. They protested and planned on getting arrested. What a stunt.

Quick! Somebody call the ACLU. This sounds like a job for them and they should run to the rescue of the arrested workers/protesters. I'm sure they were mistreated, brutalized and falsely arrested. I'm sure there is a law suit they can file on behalf of the victims.

Dixie

NORMAL, for them!

Nothing like "having your cake and eating it too!"
I hope all those people they caused to miss flights, appointments...just trying to get through that mess...will be even more determined to get them out!

I thought this march was for amnesty for illegal aliens?

W

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

I thought this march was for amnesty for illegal aliens?

W

That's how it started out but obviously some 'groups' including the LAPD had some meetings and changed tactics!

Another backfire if you ask me.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/us/29 ... ref=slogin

September 29, 2006
Hundreds Arrested in a Protest Tied to Unionizing Hotel Workers
By CINDY CHANG
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 28 — About 300 people were arrested Thursday evening for blocking the street in front of two hotels near Los Angeles International Airport in a highly choreographed event intended to publicize unionization efforts at 13 airport-area hotels.

The protesters sat back to back in front of the Hilton and Westin hotels on Century Boulevard, a main airport thoroughfare that was shut down in both directions as more than 2,500 people joined a march through the streets before the arrests.

At the Hilton, as the police handcuffed people and marched them off one by one to waiting buses, the crowd chanted “Boycott Hilton” and “Si, se puede” — “Yes, we can.”

“The struggle of these hotel workers is the struggle of all cities and communities in Los Angeles,” said Salvador Sanchez, a 41-year-old community college professor, before he was arrested. “People can’t afford rent or food. They have to have two jobs to pay for living expenses, and that’s ridiculous.”

Organizers from the local chapter of Unite Here, the hotel and restaurant employees union, have been trying to unionize the 3,000 to 4,000 airport hotel workers as part of a nationwide drive. The housekeepers, dishwashers and other employees earn an average of about $9.55 an hour, 20 percent less than similar workers make elsewhere in the city, said a union spokeswoman, Paulina Gonzalez.

Most of the workers are from Mexico and Central America, and the march and sit-in were organized in part by the immigrant rights coalition We Are America, which played an instrumental role in the marches that drew hundreds of thousands to downtown Los Angeles this spring.

Thursday’s event was closely coordinated with the police department to minimize the chance of violence, organizers said. Protesters gave their names and driver license numbers to the police so they could be arrested and released more quickly.

“We did warn the police about it,” Ms. Gonzalez said. “We didn’t want any surprises for them or us. This is a nonviolent event, an extraordinary event that delivers a message, but a nonviolent and peaceful event.”

Grant Coonley, general manager of the airport Hilton, said the protest was just a publicity stunt, with the immigration issue thrown in to draw more participants and more news coverage.

“I think it’s theatrics to draw attention to what they’re trying to do, because they’re losing support at the hotel,” Mr. Coonley said. “They don’t have support or they would go to an election.”

While the number of people arrested was unusually large, labor experts said the degree of planning and coordination with law enforcement was nothing unusual in an age when grassroots organizers are media savvy.

“I think the main departure is just the large scale of it,” said Ruth Milkman, director of the Institute of Industrial Relations at the University of California, Los Angeles. “I’ve witnessed similar choreographed events, but I’ve never seen one this large.”

Richard Hurd, a professor of labor studies at Cornell University, said that in the last decade, coordinated protests had become more common.

“When you coordinate with the police, you’re still doing civil disobedience and making the same point,” Mr. Hurd said. “And at same time you don’t have the same amount of risk — a car running into people, people being hit with billy clubs.”

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 8935.story

Labor Protest Targets Airport-Area Hotels
Hundreds are willingly arrested after sit-ins shut Century Boulevard. Few travelers miss flights.
By Joe Mathews
Times Staff Writer

September 29, 2006

About 300 people protesting the treatment of immigrant workers by hotels near Los Angeles International Airport were arrested Thursday night during two coordinated sit-ins in the middle of Century Boulevard east of the airport.

The arrests, which were planned in recent weeks with the cooperation of the Los Angeles Police Department, came after a short march of more than 2,000 people that closed Century Boulevard for three hours.

One group of about 170 people who had agreed in advance to be arrested sat down in front of the Hilton Los Angeles Airport just before 6 p.m. A smaller group sat down in front of the Westin Hotel to the east. In each spot, hundreds of marchers stood on the sidewalk, cheered, and chanted slogans such as "Sí Se Puede," "Boycott Hilton" and "No Justice, No Peace" along with the protesters in the street.

Those arrested had agreed in writing to be detained, and they offered no resistance as they were placed in plastic handcuffs and loaded onto buses for the ride to jail. Many were smiling as they were taken away.

Police, noting the number of arrests, called the event the largest civil disobedience in Los Angeles in a generation and one of the largest in the city's history. The protest saw more arrests than any labor action in 60 years.

"I am happy, as happy as I've ever been," said Daniel Briones, a cook at the Glendale Hilton, as he sat in the middle of the street and prepared to be arrested for the first time in his life. "I'm doing this for my colleagues in the hotels down here."

Hotel workers from the Century Boulevard corridor marched but did not take part in the sit-ins because of fears that they could be fired for being arrested in front of hotels where they work. They spoke about low wages. Housekeepers in area hotels make less than $11 an hour, and waiters in hotel restaurants make minimum wage plus tips.

The protest was part of a long-standing drive by Unite Here, which represents hotel workers, to unionize workers at 13 hotels in the Century corridor.

Among the arrested were several clergy members, college students bused in for the occasion, immigrant activists, leaders of many of the region's largest unions, three state legislators — Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), Richard Alarcon (D-Sun Valley) and Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) — and two city councilmen — Ed Reyes and Jose Huizar.

Airport and hotel officials said the protest had a negligible effect. Harold Johnson, an LAX spokesman, said no flights were delayed and authorities had rerouted traffic so passengers could enter the airport.

A spokesman for Westin said the hotel received no complaints from customers. The LAX Hilton's statement criticized the union for the protest, adding that the hotel was proud of its treatment of workers.

It was a boisterous but peaceful scene, with an only-in-Los-Angeles flavor. Hundreds of marchers recorded the event with video and digital cameras; about two dozen people identified themselves as documentary filmmakers.

And in typical L.A. fashion, not everyone who pledged to come showed up; 400 people had pledged to be arrested.

Some travelers trying to reach the airport abandoned their cabs and walked with their suitcases up Century Boulevard.

Juan Samanigo, a flower importer from Ecuador, missed his flight to Miami, the first leg of a trip back home to Quito, because he could not return his rental car. He planned to catch a red-eye and return home a day late.

"Why don't they protest in the hotel or the hotel garage instead of in the street where it affects travelers?" he asked.

Ian Steven, 43, a British management consultant who lives in San Francisco, also missed his flight while trying to return a car. He expressed frustration with both sides. He had to buy a ticket on a new flight and said he would send the bill to the union. "And Hilton and Westin, I'm going to avoid them as a result."


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joe.mathews@latimes.com

There is a video here.

http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_272014130.html

LA Times Video here