(The Center Square) – Membership is down for what has been described as one of California’s most aggressive labor unions.
Los Angeles area-based Unite Here Local 11 saw its membership drop by over 4% in 2025, according to the Center for Union Facts, an organization that studies unions. Overall, Unite Here Local 11’s membership is down nearly 30% in the past three years, the center reported after checking the union’s filings with the U.S. Department of Labor.
The union local says on its website that it represents over 32,000 workers employed in hotels, restaurants, airports, arenas and convention centers throughout Southern California and Arizona.
Charlyce Bozzello, communications director at the Center for Union Facts, said her organization, which considers Unite Here Local 11 to be one of the most aggressive unions, has been looking at the situation for years.
“We have talked about the allegations of discrimination which have been made against one of the union’s leaders, Ada Briceño, and there’s a bunch of other controversies as well,” Bozzello told The Center Square. “Two of the other union leaders, Susan Minato and Kurt Petersen, have family members who have been on the union payroll for a few years now.”
The Center Square tried on several occasions to reach Unite Here Local 11 by email and phone. The Center Square never received a response.
“Every year we look at the union’s financial filings with the Department of Labor,” said Bozzello, whose organization is a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to transparency and accountability in the labor movement. “Most unions have to submit these. We kind of look through [them], and we’ve seen this trend with Local 11, where their membership is declining. And yet the amount of dues that they’re charging people has been going up amid this affordability crisis.”
According to Bozzello, this also occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Center for Union Facts said it was made aware of this after a union whistleblower reached out to say that the union was pressuring the whistleblower to continue paying dues despite being out of work while hotels were closed because of the pandemic.
“Dues are going up, and the salaries for the union leaders continue to go up as well,” said Bozzello. “Every single year, they’ve seen their pay increase.”
The Center Square presented these claims from Center for Union Facts to Unite Here Local 11. Again, no response was given by phone or email.
Center for Union Facts now claims to have received an anonymous letter from a group claiming to be community leaders, elected officials and labor leaders in the community who are calling out the union and referencing research from Center for Union Facts.
“It was good to see that the union was actually being put under scrutiny by these types of people in the community,” said Bozzello. “It looks like they just want answers on what’s happening at Local 11 and what’s happening with the leadership.”
Bozzello said this ought to cause people outside of Los Angeles to pay attention.
Even if someone is not in California, Bozzello said the union is pushing “very controversial policies” that are “hurting the workers that they’re meant to represent.”
For example, Bozzello pointed to a $30 minimum wage for the hospitality industry in Los Angeles. The city-approved wage is being phased in and will be up to $30 in July 2028.
“It’s already causing job losses,” said Bozzello. “I think the latest is that 6% of jobs in that industry have been lost. And it’s not even fully – the wage rate isn’t even fully implemented yet. It’s meant to go into effect right when the Olympics get to town.”
Los Angeles is hosting the Summer Olympics in 2028.
Tickets are already on sale, and people are looking at hotels to stay at while in the city for the games.
“Hotels in the area are already saying like, ‘We are backing out of room blocks’ because of all of these estimated hikes in labor costs from this $30 minimum wage,” said Bozzello. “I think that if LA kind of blows hosting the Olympics and the union contributes to that, that’s a nationally interesting story.”
