Councilmember Janice Hahn to Join Hotel Workers on Day 6 of Living Wage Fast

United Farm Workers Co-Founder Dolores Huerta, Actor Ed Asner Will Lend Support as Hotels Seek to Repeal Landmark Wage Law.

Sixteen hotel workers on Century Boulevard near Los Angeles International Airport are engaging in a seven-day water-only fast from December 6 to December 12. Workers have chosen to go without food for a week to continue their struggle for a living wage, and to honor the memory of Margarita Uriostegui, a co-worker who tragically died two days after the September 28 civil disobedience.

On Sunday, five fasting workers who were examined showed sugar levels below 40 mg/dl, which are considered "panic" levels by laboratory standards. Linda Piera-Avila, a clinical laboratory technologist and physical therapist, says that the normal range for blood sugar is 80 to 120 mg/dl.

"In order to avoid unconsciousness and a visit to the emergency room, it is recommended that they drink four ounces of grape or apple juice in morning and the evening," said Piera-Avila. Miguel Corona, 38, is one the fasting workers who showed sugar levels at 36 mg/dl. Corona says that he is determined to carry on with the fast until it ends Tuesday. "I feel well. Psychologically I'm also prepared. I want to show the hotel owners that we are strong although it's been difficult these past few days," said Corona.

On November 22, the Los Angeles City Council passed a living wage ordinance for Century Boulevard hotel workers as a first step in lifting these workers out of poverty; the legislation was signed into law by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on November 27. The Century Boulevard hotels and other business groups are now seeking to repeal the law through a ballot referendum, jeopardizing the living wages of these workers and their hopes to provide a better life for their families. Century Boulevard hotel workers earn 20% less than their counterparts in downtown L.A., and the nearby communities of Lennox, Inglewood and Hawthorne, where a large number of these workers live, suffer high rates of poverty, crime and overcrowding. One in four residents in these communities lives below the federal poverty line, a measure of extreme poverty, while more than 40% of children come from poor households. Median household income is 25% lower than in L.A. County as a whole.