“Shamebridge”: UNITE HERE Local 11 Launches Boycott of Aimbridge Hospitality

Bad for owners and bad for customers

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On the first day of the American Lodging and Investment Summit, UNITE HERE Local 11 members announced a boycott of Aimbridge Hospitality, the largest third-party hotel operator in the world, until the company agrees to sign a fair contract at its union properties in Southern California. The boycott calls for tourists and visitors to choose alternatives for any travel and events at the following properties:

• DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Los Angeles Downtown
• DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel San Pedro - Port of Los Angeles
• Courtyard by Marriott Santa Monica
• Hampton Inn & Suites Santa Monica
• Hilton Pasadena
• Hyatt Regency LAX
• Holiday Inn Los Angeles - LAX Airport
• Sheraton Park Hotel Anaheim
• Blackstone-owned Aloft El Segundo
• Blackstone-owned Fairfield El Segundo

Dubbed “Shamebridge” by its employees, Aimbridge has been embroiled in controversy since the beginning of the Southern California hotel strike. Among other developments, last October, housekeepers at the San Pedro DoubleTree filed a class-action lawsuit against a subsidiary of the operator alleging violations of panic buttons and other worker safety provisions of the Los Angeles Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance.

Aimbridge’s business model and practices have also drawn critical attention. Following private equity firm Advent International’s 2019 acquisition of Aimbridge, industry analysts and credit ratings agencies have expressed concerns about C-suite turnover, overly-aggressive growth and credit. In November 2023, Baron Ah Moo, U.S. managing director for PKF Hospitality Group, suggested, “There is pressure on the third-party management fee model from all sides (brands, competition in the space, and the market economy) and Aimbridge, with an eye on a liquidity event (public sale/IPO), may have overextended itself to spur that aggressive growth.” Hotel Investment Today further reported that “[t]here have also been rumblings about weaker performance at Aimbridge as it focused on growth, as well as owners looking for smaller, third-party firms to get more individual attention from their operator. With rumors like that swirling, change is not an unexpected outcome.”

The union has also filed federal unfair labor practice charges against Aimbridge at two hotel properties alleging that managers unlawfully interfered with the rights of employees to engage in union or other protected activity. The charges are pending investigation by the National Labor Relations Board. Meanwhile, the California Labor Commissioner and Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon are investigating allegations of the exploitation of unhoused migrant workers at Aimbridge properties. CalPERS, the largest pension fund in the United States, is in the process of engaging with Advent International regarding issues with Aimbridge Hospitality following public comments by hotel workers and unhoused migrant workers.

The boycott announcement comes as 29 hotels across Los Angeles and Orange County have reached tentative labor agreements with their workers. Aimbridge Hospitality has failed to meet the hotel contract standard, leading to what has become protracted labor disputes at the listed properties.

UNITE HERE Local 11 is a labor union representing more than 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona that work in hotels, restaurants, universities, convention centers and airports.