About 10,000 US hotel workers to strike Labor Day weekend as contract talks break down

NEW YORK — About 10,000 U.S. hotel workers began a multi-day strike in several cities on Sunday after contract talks with hotel operators Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide and Hyatt Hotels stalled, the Unite Here union said.

Unite Here, an organization representing hotel, casino and airport workers in the United States and Canada, said thousands of workers from 24 hotels are striking in major tourist destinations, including San Francisco and San Diego in California, Hawaii’s capital Honolulu, Boston, Seattle and Greenwich, Conn. Workers in other cities are poised to join the strike ahead of the long Labor Day weekend.

The strike comes as the industry faces a 9 percent increase in domestic travel over the Labor Day weekend compared with last year, according to AAA booking data.

“Strikes have also been approved and could begin at any time” in Baltimore, New Haven, Oakland and Providence, the union said in a statement, as hotel workers and operators fight for an agreement on wages and reversing pandemic-induced job cuts.

Hotel workers are overworked, according to the union, because management often assigns three workers to do the work of four. That leads to unnecessary stress and a focus on speed over service.

“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, they have expected five-star service and three-star staff from us,” the union said, quoting an employee at the Marriott’s Palace in San Francisco.

Hotel housekeepers in Baltimore are fighting to raise their wages from the current $16.20 to $20 an hour. In Boston, where housekeepers earn $28 an hour, the union is demanding a $10 an hour increase by the end of four years.

Hilton and Hyatt said they are still willing to negotiate to reach a fair agreement with unions.

Hyatt has prepared contingency plans to minimize the impact of a potential strike on hotel operations, Michael D’Angelo, head of labor relations for the luxury hotel chain, said in a statement.

Marriott did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

The strike comes as 40,000 Unite Here hotel workers in 20 cities face contracts expiring this year. Negotiations for new four-year contracts have been underway since May, with about 15,000 of those workers having agreed to strike action in 12 markets.

“We will not accept a ‘new normal’ where hospitality businesses profit by cutting back on what they offer to guests and abandoning their commitments to staff,” said Gwen Mills, president of Unite Here, as she called for a better deal.

The union has called on travellers to cancel hotel stays if workers go on strike and to demand refunds without penalties.

Unite Here workers won record contracts in 2023 in Los Angeles after back-to-back strikes and in Detroit after a 47-day strike.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: About 10,000 U.S. hotel workers strike over Labor Day weekend