Thousands of workers at 25 hotels throughout the country went on strike for the second day Monday, seeking more pay and the reversal of pandemic-era cuts, with more cities anticipated to follow.
On Sunday, around 10,000 hotel workers went on strike during the busy Labor Day weekend at 25 hotels in eight locations, including San Diego, Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, and Honolulu. The UNITE HERE union represents the workers who work for Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt hotel businesses.
UNITE HERE stated that the workers are striking “after months of unresolved negotiations.”
Employees of the Hyatt Regency Greenwich in Connecticut carried placards reading “Respect our work” and “One job should be enough” as they lobbied for themselves outside the hotel on Monday. Some drummed, while others rang cowbells.
“Check out!” “Don’t check in!” several of the employees chanted, encouraging guests to abandon the hotel.
Francisco Tobias, who has worked at the hotel for approximately 30 years, said he was protesting for a higher salary, better health care, a pension, and respect.
“After the pandemic, they just don’t care,” he claimed of his employer. “They just want to make the money, make the money, save the money — but nothing, they don’t give us anything.”
Tobias stated that he and his coworkers used to have a cafeteria where they were fed hot meals, but they now receive containers of cold food.
“I feel very sad, very sad,” Tobias remarked. “At a great company where I work, now they don’t care.”
His son, Kevin, is also a hotel employee and attended the strike on Monday.
“Growing up, I saw that, you know, working in this hotel in particular, you can make a living,” he told me. “However, I believe that has changed in recent years, particularly since the pandemic. The dollar is more difficult to obtain and yields lower returns. So we’re out here trying to better our lives.”
UNITE HERE International President Gwen Mills stated that the hotel sector is reaping record profits while its employees are “not making enough to support their families.”
“Many can no longer afford to live in the cities that they welcome guests to, and painful workloads are breaking their bodies,” Mills told the audience. “We won’t accept a ‘new normal’ where hotel companies profit by cutting their offerings to guests and abandoning their commitments to workers.”
A representative for Hyatt stated in a statement Monday that the firm was “disappointed” that UNITE HERE workers were striking while it was still “willing to negotiate.”
“We look forward to continuing to negotiate fair contracts and recognize the contributions of Hyatt employees,” a spokeswoman told me.
Mihaela, who declined to offer her last name, traveled to the Hyatt hotel for a family wedding and said that the wait for a room was excessive, making her late for the event. She told NBC News that she supports the hotel workers’ strike.
“I’m bothered that they had to do that because apparently, we live now in a society where I think we need to do this to be heard,” she was saying. “There’s so much money at the very high levels and so little for us, and we make the high level thrive, and we also need to thrive ourselves.”
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said Monday in a statement on X that she will stand in solidarity with UNITE HERE members who are “striking for fair wages and the contracts they deserve.”
“Because in Massachusetts, Labor Day isn’t a day we take off — it’s a day we take action,” she tweeted.
The Associated Press said that over half of those on strike, or approximately 5,000 people, are from Honolulu.
UNITE HERE reports that strikes have been authorized and may commence soon in several locations, including Baltimore, New Haven, Connecticut, Oakland, California, and Providence, Rhode Island.
According to the union, similar strikes resulted in contracts for hotel and casino workers in Los Angeles and Detroit last year.