Union Gives 2 Pasadena Hotels Failing ‘COVID Hotel Grades’ in New Listing

A regional labor union representing hospitality workers assigned two Pasadena hotels failing grades on a new listing it released Thursday ranking hotels’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

UNITE HERE Local 11 published the “COVID Hotel Grades” ranking online, evaluating 78 Southern California hotels “to alert Los Angeles County hotel guests which hotels have key guarantees in place during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the union said in a written statement.

It assigned “F” grades to both the Langham Huntington and the Westin Pasadena, while the Hyatt Place Pasadena received a “D” rating from Local 11, and the Hilton Pasadena was assigned a “C.”

“Governor Newsom’s recent announcement that dining and travel restrictions would begin to lift, as well as the persistently high number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Southern California, has added urgency to the need for enhanced protocols that protect workers as well as the traveling public,” according to the statement.

Criteria used in the listing include on-site precautions, health coverage for workers, recall rights allowing workers with special COVID-19 vulnerabilities to delay their returns to the workplace and “a voice on the job for workers through a recognized union to provide the support and protections workers need to raise concerns about COVID-19 safety,” the statement added.

Just last month, however, Forbes Travel Guide designated the Langham Pasadena as one of the organization’s earliest “Sharecare Health Security VERIFIED” hotels, the company said at the time. The verification involved more than 360 standards, ranging from sanitation and ventilation to social distancing and communication with staff and guests.

But Yesenia Ortiz, who works at both the JW Marriott in downtown Los Angeles and the Langham Huntington, said from her perspective, more should be done.

“I feel better working at the JW Marriott in DTLA knowing that the company has signed an agreement to put extra cleaning protocols and protections in place,” she said. “At my second job, at the Langham Huntington Pasadena, we don’t have these same guarantees.”

Local 11 Co-President Kurt Petersen said the pandemic has been “devastating” for union members.

“The loss of income and risk of exposure to the virus has gone on for almost a full year,” he said. “We have said that when the hotel industry reopens, it has to be safe for our members. They deserve to be protected, and the public does too. COVIDHotelGrade.org will help us accomplish this.”

Local 11’s L.A. County “COVID Hotel Grade” website is available at covidhotelgrade.org.

Langham Huntington Hotel Gets Health Security Verification From Forbes Travel Guide