ABOUT

The Hospitality Training Academy (HTA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit institution and a labor-management partnership/Taft-Hartley fund that provides benefits to both the UNITE HERE Local 11 labor union and its over 135 employers. The Local 11 membership is incredibly diverse, comprising workers from many immigrant communities as well as high percentages of African-American, Latino, and Asian American workers. The members are predominantly women and people of color, and hail from all corners of the planet. Local 11 is building a movement to enable people of all backgrounds to achieve greater equality and opportunity.

The Local 11 members work for employers who range the spectrum from hotels, airport concession companies, large event/sports venues, private universities, theme parks, restaurants, food service companies, corporate cafeterias, convention centers and casinos. The HTA partners with educational institutions and community organizations to provide formal training to facilitate entry and advancement along the extensive career ladders within the hospitality and food service industries. The HTA uniquely offers new and incumbent workers with the tools to succeed in Los Angeles’ vital, high-growth hospitality industry, and provides training to move participants into a job and then move the workers up the career ladder.

The HTA has federal/WIOA, state, county and local city funding to work with low-income jobseekers to assist with resumes, mock-interviewing, job/skill training, and then pipeline these clients into a union, hospitality job with good wages and benefits. Additionally, the HTA has government funding and Taft-Hartley dollars to train and “upskill” the current Local 11 workforce, and provide ServSafe Food Certification and TIPs Safe Alcohol Service training. The Los Angeles County Workforce Development Board (WDB) has selected the HTA to act as its “ Hospitality Sector Intermediary” to analyze current trends in the hospitality industry, training needs, propose workforce solutions, and coordinate with the workforce development system and sector-based partnerships. The HTA is an approved U.S. Department of Labor Apprenticeship Program for Room Attendant/Hotel Worker, and has received numerous grants to run specialized and ESL/Workplace English programs.

The HTA provides training specifically tailored to increase workers’ skills in a variety of areas, including:

• Culinary for Cooks / Prep Cooks
• Food and Cocktail Servers
• Bartenders
• Baristas
• Bussers
• Dishwashers
• Hosts / Hostesses
• Cashiers
• Retail Sales
• Housekeeping / Guest Room Attendants
• Front of the Hotel / Front Desk Training

A Tale of Two Airports from UNITE HERE Local 11 on Vimeo.