Ten thousand hotel workers across the U.S. went on strike beginning Sunday, with employees at major chains including Marriott and Hyatt walking off the job in cities including Boston, San Francisco, San Jose and Seattle. The strike comes as millions of Americans are traveling over the busy Labor Day weekend.
The Unite Here union, which represents more than 40,000 workers, has been locked in contract negotiations with several big hotel chains, including Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott and Omni.
In a statement on Sunday, the union said it's seeking higher wages, fairer workloads and the reversal of pandemic-era job cuts. Some hotel workers must take on a second job to make ends meet, even as room rates have hit record highs and hotel chains are booking billions in annual profits, Unite Here claims.
"Since COVID, they're expecting us to give five-star service with three-star staff," Elena Duran, a server at Marriott's Palace Hotel in San Francisco for 33 years, said in the Unite Here statement. "A couple weeks ago, we were at 98% 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."
How long will the strike last?
The strikes are scheduled to last up to three days at each of the hotels, according to the union, which is urging travelers to avoid eating, sleeping or meeting at any hotel where workers are striking.
Michael D'Angelo, Hyatt's head of labor relations for the Americas, said the company's hotels have contingency plans to minimize the impact of the strikes. "We are disappointed that Unite Here has chosen to strike while Hyatt remains willing to negotiate," he said.
In a statement before the strikes began, Hilton said it was "committed to negotiating in good faith to reach fair and reasonable agreements."
Marriott didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Here's a list of hotels where workers are striking, along with the number of days the strike is expected to last at each location, according to Unite Here.
Baltimore
- Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor — 1 day
Boston
- Fairmont Copley Plaza — 3 days
- Hampton Inn & Homewood Suites by Hilton Boston Seaport — 3 days
- Hilton Boston Logan Airport — 3 days
- Hilton Boston Park Plaza — 3 days
Greenwich, Connecticut
- Hyatt Regency Greenwich — 3 days
Honolulu, Hawaii
- Hilton Hawaiian Village — 3 days
- Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach — 3 days
- The Royal Hawaiian (Marriott Luxury Collection) — 3 days
- Sheraton Princess Kaiulani (Marriott) — 3 days
- Sheraton Waikiki (Marriott) — 3 days
- Waikiki Beach Marriott — 3 days
- Westin Moana Surfrider (Marriott) — 3 days
Kauai, Hawaii
- Sheraton Kauai Resort (Marriott) — 3 days
San Francisco
- Grand Hyatt Union Square — 3 days
- Hilton Union Square — 3 days
- Westin St. Francis (Marriott) — 3 days
- Palace Hotel (Marriott Luxury Collection) — 3 days
- Grand Hyatt SFO — 3 days
San Diego
- Hilton San Diego Bayfront — 2 days
San Jose
- DoubleTree by Hilton San Jose — 3 days
- Signia by Hilton San Jose — 3 days
Seattle
- DoubleTree by Hilton Seattle Airport — 2 days
- Hilton Seattle Airport & Conference Center — 2 days
- Westin Seattle (Marriott) — 2 days
—with reporting by the Associated Press.
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