Santa Monica Truth Commission

City of Santa Monica

Faith and community leaders in Santa Monica held a “Truth Commission” on November 16 in response to violence against picketing hotel workers at the Fairmont Miramar; the exploitation of unhoused migrant workers brought in to replace striking workers at Le Meridien Delfina; and company retaliation against striking workers at the Viceroy and Le Meridien Delfina.

On January 8, 2024, the Fairmont Miramar signed a tentative agreement with UNITE HERE Local 11, which addresses the truth commission’s concerns for that hotel and commits all parties to engage in a good-faith reconciliation process.

The other issues of the truth commission report, regarding Le Meridien Delfina and the Viceroy, must still be addressed. We call on the city of Santa Monica to act on the remaining recommendations of the CLUE (Clergy and Laity United For Economic Justice) Santa Monica Truth Commission report.

The Truth Commissioners' findings and suggestions are outlined below. The full text of the report is available HERE. Please add your name to call on the city of Santa Monica to act on these recommendations.

Over decades, Santa Monica has led the nation to pass legislation to protect workers for moments like these, when wealthy hospitality companies take advantage of the most vulnerable workers. We urge the City of Santa Monica to do the following:
  • Demand an end to retaliation against striking workers.

  • Investigate whether these migrants brought in as replacement workers during strikes at the Le Meridien Delfina have received the applicable minimum wages per the city’s local ordinance; whether they have been provided personal security devices, and proper training on the use of such devices, in addition to training on other rights intended to protect workers from threatening conduct as required by the hotel worker protection ordinance.

  • These examples brought forth by the workers also highlight a fundamental problem of labor enforcement in the hospitality industry: how workers or enforcement agencies can regulate the many shadowy staffing agencies that pay the checks of employees, a problem that persists even at wealthy large corporations with professional human resources departments. To this end, we also urge the city to gather information about each staffing agency utilized by the hotels named in this letter, and to collect basic information about each company, the firms with which they work, and the employees employed by each firm.


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To: City of Santa Monica
From: [Your Name]

I support the findings of the Santa Monica Truth Commission and call on the city of Santa Monica to act on the commission's recommendations.