Hotel workers represented by the Unite Here union begin a multi-day strike in Honolulu.
Credit: Reuters Photo
About 10,000 hotel workers in cities including San Francisco, Seattle and Boston walked off the job Sunday in an attempt to disrupt Labor Day weekend travel after their union and some of the country’s biggest hotel companies failed to come to an agreement in contract negotiations.
On Sunday morning, workers were striking at some Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton hotel properties, plus one Fairmont hotel, in eight cities across the United States: Boston; San Francisco; Seattle; San Jose, California; Honolulu; Kauai, Hawaii; San Diego and Greenwich, Connecticut, according to UNITE HERE, the union. The workers, at 24 hotels total, included front-desk staff, housekeepers and other employees.
In a news release, UNITE HERE said that strikes had also been authorized in Baltimore; New Haven, Connecticut; Oakland, California; and Providence, Rhode Island, and could begin “at any time.”
The union said the strikes were expected to last in each city for two to three days, during a long weekend when the busy summer travel season unofficially concludes.
Among the issues the union says it is fighting for are higher wages and an end to pandemic-era service and staffing cuts. During the height of the pandemic, the leisure and hospitality industry, including hotels, laid off millions of workers as it struggled under travel restrictions and a pullback in consumer spending on services. Employment in the sector has since rebounded as travel has surged back, though some hotels have continued to keep in place adjustments they made in recent years to services, such as daily housekeeping.
Michael D’Angelo, Hyatt’s head of labor relations for the Americas, said in a statement Sunday that the company was “disappointed that UNITE HERE has chosen to strike while Hyatt remains willing to negotiate.” He said the company had contingency plans in place to mitigate the impact of the strike.
A Hilton spokesperson said that Hilton was “committed to negotiating in good faith to reach fair and reasonable agreements” and that its “hotels have contingency plans in place to ensure operations continue to run as smoothly as possible” for customers.
Representatives for Marriott did not immediately respond to a request for comment.