More than 10,000 hotel workers are on strike in nine cities, their Unite Here union said, after contract talks stalled over demands for higher wages and reversal of pandemic-era staffing and service cuts.
The workers walked out at 24 hotels operated by Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide and Hyatt Hotels in eight cities on Sunday. About 270 workers went on strike in Baltimore on Monday.
As of Monday, the strikes are affecting five hotels in San Francisco, four in Boston, seven in Honolulu, three in Seattle, two in San Diego, two in San Jose and one in Kauai, Hawaii, one in Baltimore, and one in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Strikes have also been authorized and could begin at any time New Haven, Connecticut, Oakland, California, and Providence, Rhode Island, the union said. Each city’s strike will last two or three days.
The full list of affected hotels is at the end of this article.
The strikes are taking place over the Labor Day weekend, typically one of the busiest periods for travel in the U.S. The union has urged travelers not to stay, eat or meet at any hotel that is on strike.
It is hoping to build on successful strikes from last year, when workers won record contracts in Los Angeles after rolling strikes and in Detroit following a 47-day strike.
Union president Gwen Mills said that while the hotel industry has rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic, many hotels have maintained cuts to staffing and services, meaning workers have lost jobs and income and those left have been stretched thin.
“Since COVID, they’re expecting us to give five-star service with three-star staff,” the union quoted Elena Duran, a server at Marriott’s Palace Hotel in San Francisco, as saying.
“A couple weeks ago, we were at 98 percent occupancy, but they only put three servers when we used to be a team of four or five. It’s too much pressure on us to go faster and faster instead of calling in more people to work.”
Hotel workers on the first day of a strike on July 2, 2023, in Los Angeles. Some 10,000 hotel workers across the U.S. are on strike demanding higher wages and a reversal of pandemic-era cuts.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Mills said: “During COVID, everyone suffered, but now the hotel industry is making record profits while workers and guests are left behind. Too many hotels still haven’t restored standard services that guests deserve, like automatic daily housekeeping and room service.
“Workers aren’t making enough to support their families. Many can no longer afford to live in the cities that they welcome guests to, and painful workloads are breaking their bodies. We won’t accept a ‘new normal’ where hotel companies profit by cutting their offerings to guests and abandoning their commitments to workers.”
Hilton and Hyatt said they are committed to negotiating a fair agreement with the union.
“Hilton makes every effort to maintain a cooperative and productive relationship with the unions that represent some of our team members,” a Hilton spokesperson told Newsweek.
“We remain committed to negotiating in good faith to reach fair and reasonable agreements that are beneficial to both our valued team members and to our hotels.”
Hyatt has contingency plans in place to minimize the impact on hotel operations related to potential strike activity, Michael D’Angelo, head of labor relations at Hyatt, said in a statement to Reuters.
Newsweek has contacted Hyatt and Marriott for comment via email. The union has also been contacted for further comment via email.
Cities and Hotels Affected
Baltimore
Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor
Boston
Fairmont Copley Plaza
Hampton Inn & Homewood Suites by Hilton Boston Seaport
Hilton Boston Logan Airport
Hilton Boston Park Plaza
Greenwich
Hyatt Regency Greenwich
Honolulu
Hilton Hawaiian Village
Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach
The Royal Hawaiian (Marriott Luxury Collection)
Sheraton Princess Kaiulani (Marriott)
Sheraton Waikiki (Marriott)
Waikiki Beach Marriott
Westin Moana Surfrider (Marriott)
Kauai
Sheraton Kauai Resort (Marriott)
San Francisco
Grand Hyatt SFO
Grand Hyatt Union Square
Hilton Union Square
Westin St. Francis (Marriott)
Palace Hotel (Marriott Luxury Collection)
San Diego
Hilton San Diego Bayfront
San Jose
DoubleTree by Hilton San Jose
Signia by Hilton San Jose
Seattle
DoubleTree by Hilton Seattle Airport
Hilton Seattle Airport & Conference Center
Westin Seattle (Marriott)
Unite Here is updating the list of hotels and cities where strikes have begun here.
