Hotel Workers Strike for Better Conditions in Major U.S. Cities

Hotel Workers Strike Across Major U.S. Cities for Better Conditions

In a significant labor action, approximately 10,000 hotel workers across prominent cities such as San Francisco, Seattle, and Boston initiated a strike on Sunday. This move aims to disrupt travel during the busy Labor Day weekend, following unsuccessful contract negotiations between their union and some of the nation’s largest hotel chains.

On Sunday morning, striking workers were present at various properties owned by major brands including Marriott, Hyatt, and Hilton, as well as a Fairmont hotel. The strike affected 24 hotels in a total of eight cities: Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, San Jose, California, Honolulu, Kauai, Hawaii, San Diego, and Greenwich, Connecticut. The workforce involved in the strike includes front-desk staff, housekeepers, and various hotel employees, as reported by UNITE HERE, the union advocating for their rights.

Furthermore, UNITE HERE announced that strikes had also been authorized in cities like Baltimore, New Haven, Connecticut, Oakland, California, and Providence, Rhode Island, indicating that these strikes could commence “at any time.” The union anticipates that the strikes will last for two to three days in each city, coinciding with a long weekend which marks the unofficial end of the busy summer travel season.

Among the striking workers is Joan Dixon, an employee at Hilton Boston Logan Airport. The UNITE HERE union has outlined plans for rolling strikes in multiple cities, each lasting two to three days.

The union highlights several critical issues at the forefront of the strike, including demands for higher wages and the reinstatement of services and staffing levels that were diminished during the pandemic. The leisure and hospitality industry, particularly hotels, faced severe challenges during the pandemic, resulting in the layoff of millions of workers as travel restrictions and a decrease in consumer spending took their toll. Although employment in this sector has rebounded with the resurgence of travel, many hotels have opted to retain some of the cost-cutting measures implemented during the pandemic, such as reduced daily housekeeping services.

Gwen Mills, the international president of UNITE HERE, emphasized the union’s stance, stating, “We won’t accept a ‘new normal’ where hotel companies profit by cutting their offerings to guests and abandoning their commitments to workers.” She further noted that many workers struggle to earn sufficient wages to support their families.

In response to the strike, Michael D’Angelo, Hyatt’s head of labor relations for the Americas, expressed disappointment, stating that the company was “disappointed that UNITE HERE has chosen to strike while Hyatt remains willing to negotiate.” He reassured that contingency plans were in place to mitigate the impact of the labor action.

As for representatives from Marriott and Hilton, they did not provide immediate comments regarding the situation. UNITE HERE, boasting over 250,000 members in both the United States and Canada, serves as the primary union representing hospitality workers in many major American cities. The union has a history of strategically timing labor actions to coincide with peak travel periods; for example, last year, thousands of workers in Southern California went on strike over demands for improved pay and benefits during the Fourth of July holiday.

Noam Scheiber contributed reporting to this article.