Long Beach Convention Center Workers Win New Contract

By Daniel Rivera, Labor Reporter

On April 23, the union representing hospitality workers in California and Arizona, Unite HERE Local 11, announced that it and ASM Global had ratified a new contract for the Long Beach Convention Center and its workers over the weekend. ASM Global has also agreed to hire the workers from 1Fifty1 and reduce its reliance on subcontracted workers.

This came after ASM Global cut ties with 1Fifty1, which is currently under investigation for alleged wage theft and skirting income tax law by the California Labor Commissioner..

“It covers a lot of people’s needs, especially with what’s going on, with everything rising in cost,” Andrea Romero, a lead cook at the Long Beach Convention Center, told Random Lengths News. The new agreement includes a $12 raise over the next 3 years, $5 in the first year, $2 in the second, and $5 in the last year.

The contract includes family health insurance, an additional 400% added to pension plans, along with an extension of the agreement to the in-development Long Beach Amphitheater or the Long Beach Bowl, which ASM Global was charged with running a little while ago by the city council.

“We were worried it would be longer, that we would have to go on for longer. If we did, we would’ve had to get second jobs,” Romero said. The union moved to strike and boycott the center earlier in the year, urging various event organizers and visitors to choose other places to either host or visit. Negotiations began last year in September. The new contract will end in January of 2028, right before Los Angeles hosts the Olympics.

One of the largest sticking points in the contract was regarding the pay and hours of the subcontracted workers, the workers under the temporary agencies ASM Global works with to fill the holes in its labor force. As a part of the contract, ASM Global must move towards reducing subcontracted workers.

“We want to make it rare, instead of common as it is now, there are reduction goals that they have to meet … they have to reduce it by 80%,” UniteHere Local 11 Co-President Kurt Peterson told Random Lengths News.

As a part of the agreement, ASM Global has also agreed to hire the workers who were affected by 1Fifty1 management, and according to their press release, ASM Global has hired over 20 workers and has made offers to the others as well.

Additionally, the contract stipulates more protections for these workers against exploitation in the workplace, and those who were recently hired by ASM Global gained an 80% increase in wages.

While under 1Fifity1, they had a cap of about 960 hours per year, excluding them from benefits for full-time employees.

The union pushed for them to be included under Measure RW, which was originally meant to raise the wages of Long Beach’s hospitality workers to about $28 an hour by 2028, just in time for the Olympics.

However, when the Long Beach City Council voted on expanding the ordinance to the workers for the Long Beach Airport and Convention Center, they moved to not include the subcontracted workers from the temporary work agencies that ASM Global contracts with, citing the cost and impact to businesses.

Long Beach itself will be hosting about 11 Olympic games, priming the union and operator for another round of heated negotiations before the international event, as Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson is pushing Long Beach as a major waterfront venue for the games.

“I mean we got a lot with our contract, they expire before the Olympics and workers will be ready to do what they have to do,” Maria Hernendez told Random Lengths News when asked about the future negotiations.

“We have over 100 contracts for hotels, airports and food service that expire before the Olympics.

Members believe if we don’t get what we need, the Olympics, to benefit working people, we would be willing to strike,” Peterson said.