Employees at two hotels in Downtown Long Beach are celebrating $4 per hour raises and other benefits that union representatives hope to spread to thousands of other hospitality workers across the region in ongoing contract talks.

The Hyatt Regency and Hyatt Centric agreed to bring minimum pay to between $22 and $25 an hour for non-tipped positions, including housekeepers, cooks, front desk workers, and stewards, Unite Here Local 11 (which represents the workers) announced at a press conference Thursday.

The six-month contract, retroactive to Jan. 1, also gives employees free family health insurance, and guarantees that the hotels will have rooms cleaned daily and will be staffed at pre-pandemic levels.