…Thousands of Southern California hospitality workers overwhelmingly ratified a new contract with 34 hotels after repeated strikes since the summer, their union announced Monday.

Workers won higher pay, increased employer contributions to pensions, and fair workload guarantees among other provisions…

Room attendants, cooks and other non-tipped workers will receive wage hikes of $10 an hour over the term of the contract, representing a 40% to 50% increase, the union said. Half of the increase will come in the first year…

“We have won a life-changing contract that transforms hotel jobs from low-wage service work to middle-class professional positions,” Kurt Petersen, co-president of Local 11, told workers at a rally outside a downtown Los Angeles hotel.

The coalition of hotels involved in talks with the union welcomed the deal.

“The ratification votes are a long time coming. We’re glad that hotel employees who have been waiting months now can enjoy the benefits of new contracts,…said … a spokesperson for the California Hotel & Lodging Association…

The union scored a major achievement just before the wave of strikes when a tentative agreement was reached with its biggest employer, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites…

Petersen also pointed out that the new contract expires just months before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics…