Lowe’s new brokerage firm Skye Commercial must reckon with longstanding Terranea Resort labor dispute and boycott

On May 3, Lowe announced the formation of a new division, Skye Commercial, a Denver-based full-service commercial brokerage firm. Hoteliers should consider whether Skye Commercial is the best firm to partner with given Lowe’s history navigating labor and employment issues at the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. The Terranea Resort is owned by a joint venture comprised of Lowe and JC Resorts and operated by Lowe’s management company CoralTree Hospitality.

The Terranea continues to face a highly public, prolonged labor dispute. The resort declined to sign a labor peace agreement and has over the last several years faced picket lines and protests, as well as a women-led boycott organized by UNITE HERE Local 11 and supported by the California Democratic Party, Feminist Majority Foundation, and California NOW, among others.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1074 (dubbed the “Hospitality Workers Right to Return” bill) on April 16, 2021. Terranea terminated much of its workforce amid the pandemic without making a binding commitment to rehire longtime workers when the hotel reopened, but will now be forced to do so, thanks to Terranea workers who lobbied for the bill. These employees include former Terranea banquet server Antonio Rodriguez, who dedicated 11 years to the resort before it terminated him and took away his health care benefits.

As the hospitality industry recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, hotel owners, operators and brokers will have to contend with increasingly complicated employment and labor issues. UNITE HERE Local 11 believes that labor peace is good for business, and can streamline transactions in the hospitality industry. Lowe has been unable to achieve labor peace at the Terranea.

UNITE HERE Local 11 is a labor union representing over 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona that work in hotels, restaurants, universities, convention centers, and airports.

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