Hotel Workers Protest to City Council : Labor: Union members want the Beverly Hills Hotel to guarantee them the right to return to their jobs after two years of renovations are completed.

About 75 hotel union members carried their dispute with the Beverly Hills Hotel to the City Council this week on the night the hotel was to receive final approval for renovations.

Wearing red placards that said “Beverly Hills Workers Deserve Better,” the demonstrators from Local 11 of the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Union demanded that the hotel guarantee them the right to return to their jobs after two years of renovation are completed.

The protesters began their demonstration outside City Hall and then marched peacefully into the Council Chambers under the watchful eye of five police officers.

The famed 80-year-old hotel on Sunset Boulevard will close at the end of the year for refurbishment, according to hotel manager Kerman Beriker.

The 12 1/2-acre property is owned by the Sultan of Brunei through his country’s investment agency and its real estate subsidiary, Sajahtera Inc. The sultan, ruler of a small oil-producing country on the island of Borneo, in the Malay Archipelago, is reputed to be the world’s richest man, with holdings valued at more than $30 billion.

During an impassioned plea before the City Council Tuesday, Local 11 President Maria Elena Durazo said that more than 300 maids, cooks and other workers will be out of work when the hotel closes, with no assurance that they will be rehired after the renovation.

So far, the hotel has declined to promise to rehire the union members. It has offered severance pay and medical benefits for some part of the renovation period, but “has done virtually nothing to address our concerns” of employment in the future, Durazo said.

Durazo contended that the hotel management is engaging in “union-busting” and intends to hire cheaper workers when the hotel reopens. She acknowledged that the City Council has no jurisdiction in labor disputes, “but we think you should understand that a massive confrontation on Sunset Boulevard in your town is no good for the city of Beverly Hills or the people you represent.”

Durazo pledged that the union will continue to picket the hotel throughout its renovation and reopening, unless the hotel agrees to negotiate the right of workers to return to their jobs when it reopens.

About half a dozen workers also made statements to the council.

Idako Morrison, who identified herself as a single mother from Japan, said she has worked for the hotel for 11 years. “We are the people who make the hotel special,” she said.

In response to the protest, hotel General Manager Beriker said an offer that provides for severance pay and medical benefits has been on the negotiating table since March 27, but the union has not responded. He said the hotel has about 480 workers, about 380 of whom belong to the union.

After the meeting, Beriker said: “We need to go back to the negotiation table and discuss the issues they are concerned about. We are waiting for them to call us.”

In the meantime, plans call for the famed pink hotel to close by the end of the year for renovation by Peck Jones Construction.

The renovation, which was unanimously approved by the council, calls for the number of rooms to be reduced from 261 to 210 so that the remaining rooms can be enlarged. The number of parking spaces on the site will be increased from 429 to 692 spaces.

The architect for the renovation reassured the council that the west wing of the hotel, built in 1947 and containing the hotel’s famous sign, will not be altered, and the pool and cabana will remain unchanged.

The renovation is needed because guest rooms and bathrooms are substandard, and kitchen and laundry facilities are inadequate, said Edward Friedrichs, vice president of the architectural firm.

There has been a general deterioration of the hotel over the years, Friedrichs said, and its reputation has suffered.

“The renovation will restore the Beverly Hills Hotel to prominence as a five-star hotel,” he said.