Catherwood LibraryILR School

As Santa Monica's tourism dependent hotel industry continues to lay off hundreds of workers, officers of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union are concerned that businesses are using the current economic downturn as an excuse to purge activists from their payrolls. In an attempt to prevent such retaliatory layoffs, the city council is considering legislation that would protect employees laid off unfairly, and require businesses to rehire according to seniority when the economy begins to pick up. If these measures are passed, they would give workers protection analogous to union job-security agreements, and would be the first such city ordinance in the country.