This piece was published as part of the Zócalo/The James Irvine Foundation public program and editorial series, “What Is a Good Job Now?” which investigates low-wage work across California.

I work as a personal concierge at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, one of the most luxurious hotels in the world. The title that I hold—the first of its kind in the hotel industry and one that required special training—does not fully explain my job responsibilities.

Unlike a typical concierge, I perform a wide range of tasks, including check-ins and check-outs but not limited to accounting, making special reservations and suggesting points of interest, helping guests with luggage, assisting with package and food deliveries, setting up room decor to celebrate special occasions, answering phones, and fulfilling all kinds of guest requests. Despite the different duties and training of the job, I was still compensated as a regular front desk agent.

The pandemic burdened me with additional duties as the hotel was severely understaffed and extremely busy. The personal concierge team I joined in 2022 had once consisted of 29 members but due to steady turnover, by the time I got the job, there were only six, including me. My colleagues were disappointed and worn out. I knew something needed to change. But what? My personal answer to that question is a long one.

I was raised in Forest Hills, New York by ambitious parents from Mexico City who were studying to become physicians. I had to take on the responsibility of caring for my two younger siblings while my parents were busy with study, work, and dealing with our difficult financial situation. That struggle taught me invaluable lessons about the value of education, of striving for excellence, and of never accepting injustices. My parents taught me to speak up and advocate for the most vulnerable, who tend to be preyed on by the corrupt.

Inspired by my parents, I decided to seek our union’s help in making my job and the jobs of my colleagues more sustainable. I must confess that when I first discovered that the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills was a union property, I thought, wrongly, that the union, Unite Here Local 11, controlled workers and our jobs. But then I studied the union’s rules and our contract and met with union leaders, and soon realized that we workers were the union. We could engage with the union and one another to bring positive changes to our workplace.

Our union contract with the hotel expired on June 30, 2023. With negotiations failing and management handling meetings with bad faith, it was apparent that a strike was inevitable not just in our hotel but in hotels all over the city.

Unity was going to be key to our success. So while the hotel was providing conflicting misinformation and trying to convince us to resign our union memberships, I started a group chat for all Waldorf Astoria team members and union reps. The chat was crucial in allowing us to receive news and updates in real-time, and post images and videos. This information-sharing inspired much of our staff to become fired up and join the citywide union actions that became the largest hotel strike in modern U.S. history. From the beginning, we also had broad support among hotel workers and the public because our demands were based on “five pillars” of change that most people could agree on: a living wage increase, healthcare, humane staffing levels, pension increases, and union growth.

Going on my first strike was scary, empowering, sad, and beautiful. It was a shocking and jarring experience at first—we hadn’t planned to escalate things to this level, which meant risking retaliation. However, as time went on, I began to feel truly empowered and determined to win the fight for justice. The strike made me aware of the realities of my fellow Californians who work in hotels. Thousands of them suffer from homelessness, evictions, serious and expensive health issues, and other precarious financial circumstances.

Throughout the summer and into the fall, hundreds of hotel workers in Los Angeles went on strike in different locations at random times and for a random number of days. We went on strike twice at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, for a total of seven days. Our actions took place outside the hotel and in the lobby; it was impossible for guests to avoid us.

Workers striking at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills. Courtesy of author.

We garnered an incredible amount of support from the public, including hotel regulars, clergy members, UPS workers, culinary workers, and people driving by and honking for us. Support also came from political and civil rights leaders—among them Tom Morello, former West Hollywood Mayor Sepi Shyne, Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman, U.S. Senator Laphonza Butler, State Senator Maria Elena Durazo (our former union leader), and most recently President Joe Biden in Nevada.

We also had to contend with extreme temperatures on the picket lines as well as verbal abuse from some angry patrons and local residents. Hotel managers installed hedges, fencing, and even cages to keep us further from the premises, and hired new security workers to intimidate us in the name of “safety.” Using an app called Instawork, they hired unqualified staff to replace us. At one point they deactivated our digital keyed access. We were lucky; other hotels were more punitive and resorted to violence.

Solidarity was clearly the path to victory. It was disappointing to see a few colleagues at hotels turn their backs on us, out of fear. It was also frustrating to ask for support from major public figures—like U.S. Representative Katie Porter, Governor Gavin Newsom, and Taylor Swift, who toured L.A. during the strike—and not get it.

But most importantly, the overwhelming majority of the union held, in no small part because of the women who represented a majority of the union in our ranks and our leadership. They never took “no” for an answer, and they lifted the rest of us up when we got tired or discouraged. And we kept achieving victories as hotels and the union began reaching agreements in the early fall.

Finally, in the early afternoon on Friday, December 8, I received a message from the director of Unite Here Local 11, Lorena Lopez, requesting a phone call with all the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills union leaders. We were about to begin our third strike at the Waldorf Astoria in advance of the Golden Globes Award nomination announcements at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on December 11. But when I got to the meeting, the feeling was of something bigger and more hopeful. I heard our director declare over speaker phone, “I have some important news to share with you. I want to let you know that I am so proud of you. You worked so hard, and your efforts paid off! Congratulations! The Waldorf has agreed to our five pillars. Congratulations, you won!”

We used our group chat to request every union member meet us at the famous Waldorf Ballroom. Once gathered, I was honored to deliver the good news to everyone as I held back tears of joy: “Thank you guys for being here. As you know, I’m Alaink, and we have been fighting to win a fair contract. We were already planning to go on strike Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. However, new developments have happened, and I am very happy to announce that we have WON!”

Suddenly, the entire ballroom was filled with cheers and applause and faces of relief, bringing many to tears. The strike is over at our hotel, but I feel profoundly changed and renewed. Striking was hard work. It brought unbearable stress and forced me to neglect the rest of my life—including my incredibly supportive husband. But the payoff was worth it.

We won a historic contract of a lifetime that will transform the entire hotel industry and uplift hard-working brown and Black men and women and other marginalized people who will finally get a chance to join the middle class. Housekeeping team members, cooks, and other non-tipped workers will receive wage hikes of $10 an hour over the term of the contract—a 40–50% increase in pay, half of which will come this year. Housekeeping workers at most hotels will earn $35 an hour by July 2027, and top cooks will earn $41 an hour. Tipped workers will see improvements like double-time pay for holidays, vacation, sick days, and increased shares of service charges. Automatic 20% gratuities at full-service restaurants will be 100% shared by staff. Our contract maintains health insurance in which workers pay no more than $20 per month for full family coverage.

We have bigger plans, too, including a new deal for the Olympics that includes family-sustaining jobs and affordable housing. I hope our success will embolden hotel workers around the country—and anyone who is facing injustices in the workplace. Remember to be courageous, to organize, to think big, and to lead with love, dignity, and conviction. The path to victory is only sure to those who do not give up, give in, or stay silent.