Troubled holidays: Travellers at San Francisco International Airport. The Unite Here union, which represents workers in hotels, casinos and airports across the United States, says more workers from additional cities are ready to join the strike. — Bloomberg
NEW YORK: Some 10,000 US hotel workers began a multi-day strike in several cities last Sunday after contract talks with hotel operators Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide, and Hyatt Hotels reached an impasse, the Unite Here union says.
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.
These include 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 continued.
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 US$20 per hour from their current US$16.20.
In Boston, where housekeepers make US$28 per hour, the union is seeing a US$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 labour relations at the luxury hotel chain said in a statement.
Marriott did not respond to a request for comment.
The strike comes as 40,000 Unite Here hotel workers across 20 cities face expiring contracts this year.
Negotiations for new four-year contracts have been taking place since May, and about 15,000 of those workers have authorised strikes in 12 markets.
“We won’t accept a ‘new normal’ where hotel companies profit by cutting their offerings to guests and abandoning their commitments to workers,” Unite Here president Gwen Mills said, demanding a better deal.
The union has urged travellers to cancel their hotel stays if the workers are on strike, and to demand penalty-free refunds. — Reuters
