Eloisa Vasquez is a housekeeper at a local hotel. She is also a leader of the movement of hotel workers to lift one another above the poverty line. On Nov. 29, community leaders from Santa Clara County gathered at the UNITE HERE! Local 19 office to meet Eloisa and others involved in this movement.

Eloisa described how she supports herself and two children on a salary of $10.90 an hour: “I don’t go to the movies, eat out restaurants, or buy anything for myself, in order to provide food and clothes that my children need. I haven’t seen my mom in four years, because I can’t afford to take a vacation to Mexico. She’s 80 years old.”

This year hotel workers will be negotiating contracts at seven hotels in Santa Clara County, including most of the major downtown San Jose hotels. This has the potential to transform the local hospitality industry from one that provides low-wage jobs to one that provides our communities with good jobs and living wages.

It was this vision that provided the impetus for the event, which was organized by both the hotel workers’ union – UNITE HERE! Local 19 – and Rising Together, a coalition of community organizations that includes the San Jose Peace and Justice Center.
More than 65 community leaders from 40 organi-zations attended the event, representing the diverse communities concerned with the plight of low-wage service workers in Silicon Valley.

They heard from union and community activists about the significance of the hotel workers’ movement for the entire community, and had an opportunity to discuss why the lives and struggles of hotel workers mattered to them. The event ended with audience members pledging to rise together with hotel workers towards a just future.

Many representatives of the peace and justice community participated in the event, which reflects the Peace Center’s deep involvement in the Rising Together coalition. Rising Together was formed in 2007 to build solidarity between hotel workers’ and other communities fighting for social justice.

The coalition includes the Affordable Housing Network, Billy DeFrank LGBT Center, Comite Cesar Chavez, Community Homeless Alliance Ministry, San Jose Peace and Justice Center, and Silicon Valley De-Bug. Local 19 and Rising Together look forward to a challenging and exciting year of changing the lives of hotel workers.

If you want to support hotel workers who are fighting for a better future, please contact me at 408-321-9019, ext 304 or e-mail calvin.miaw[at]gmail.com

More stories on hotel workers:

Strong Support for Hyatt Workers

Hotel Workers Call for Liveable Wages 

Community Rallies Behind Member of Union Committee Targeted with Retaliatory Actions 

Report Released on Working Conditions at Hyatt Santa Clara