Blitz Bureau
Around 10,000 U.S. hotel workers began a multi-day strike in several cities on September 1 after contract talks with hotel operators Marriott International stalled, the Unite Here union said.
Unite Here, which represents workers in hotels, casinos, and airports across the United States and Canada, said thousands of workers at 24 hotels are on strike in some major travel destinations including San Francisco and San Diego in California, Hawaii’s capital city Honolulu, Boston, Seattle, and Greenwich, Connecticut, with workers from additional cities ready to join the walkout as the Labour Day holiday weekend continues.
Work pressure
The strike is taking place with the industry facing a 9% increase in Labour Day weekend domestic travel compared to last year, according to AAA booking data.
“Strikes have also been authorised and could begin at any time” in Baltimore, New Haven, Oakland, and Providence, the union said in a statement, as hotel workers and operators struggle to agree on wages and on reversing pandemic-era job cuts.
Hotel workers are being stretched thin, according to the union, with management frequently assigning three staff members to do the job of four.
This leads to undue stress and a focus on speed over service. “Since COVID, they’re expecting us to give five-star service with three-star staff,” the union said, quoting a staff member at Marriott’s Palace Hotel in San Francisco.
Hotel housekeepers in Baltimore are fighting to bring wages up to $20 per hour from their current $16.20. In Boston, where housekeepers make $28 per hour, the union is seeking a $10 per hour raise by the end of four years.
Hilton and Hyatt said they remain committed to negotiating a fair agreement with the union. Hyatt has contingency plans in place to minimise the impact on hotel operations related to potential strike activity, Michael D’Angelo, head of labor relations at the luxury hotel chain said in a statement.
