Some 10,000 hotel workers formed picket lines in eight cities across the United States on Sunday as they called for better wages and the restoration of job cuts made during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo courtesy of UNITE HERE/
XSept. 2 (UPI) — Thousands of hotel workers have gone on strike across the United States following months of failed negotiations on higher wages, fairer staffing and better workloads.
The UNITE HERE union said some 10,000 hotel workers at 24 hotels including the Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott walked off the job and formed picket lines Sunday in the cities of Boston, Mass.; Greenwich, Conn.; Honolulu and Kauai, Hawaii; San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose, Calif.; and Seattle, Wash. According to a statement from the union, each city’s strikes will last two or three days.
Strikes have also been authorized for Baltimore, Md.; New Haven, Conn.; Oakland, Calif.; and Providence, R.I.; with the union stating those work actions could begin at anytime.
The union has accused the hotels of taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to cut staffing and guest services amid low demand, but have not resumed hiring with the resumption of tourism.
The response from hotels not only caused workers to lose their jobs but created painful working conditions and increased workloads for those who remained on the frontlines, it said.
The strike, it said, is in demand of increasing wages and reversing the COVID-19-era cuts as well as improving staffing and workload conditions.
“Ten thousand hotel workers across the U.S. are on strike because the hotel industry has gotten off track,” Gwen Mills, international president of UNITE HERE, said in the statement.
“During COVID, everyone suffered, but now the hotel industry is making record profits while workers and guests are left behind.”
Mills said too many hotels haven’t restored standards and services to pre-pandemic levels, affecting daily housekeeping and room services, while workers on staff are needing to get a second job to deal with rising living costs.
“Many can no longer afford to live in the cities that they welcome guests to, and painful workloads are breaking their bodies,” Mills said.
“We won’t accept a ‘new normal’ where hotel companies profit by cutting their offerings to guests and abandoning their commitments to workers.”
Videos and images of picket lines formed outside of hotels were plastered on the union’s social media accounts Sunday.
“Tick Tock! Time has run out and we are outside rewriting history,” UNITE HERE Local 26, the union for Massachusetts and Rhode Island hotel workers, said in caption to a video showing picketing workers.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, posted a message of support online.
“I sand in solidarity with Local 26 because one job should be enough,” she said on X. “I support these workers now as they fight for a fair contract.”
Ed Flynn, a Boston City council member, described the strike as being about “social and economic justice for working families.”
“These working men and women @UNITEDHERE 26 are on strike. Fighting for a new contract and to be treated with dignity and respect,” he said on X.
