Thousands of hotel workers are striking across eight cities ahead of Labor Day, demanding higher wages and fair staffing and workloads.
UNITE HERE, the union representing hotel workers, announced that about 10,000 workers at 24 hotels in Boston, Greenwich, Honolulu, Kauai, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Seattle will go on strike starting Sunday. Each strike will last two to three days. According to the union.
The union noted that strikes have also been authorized in Baltimore, New Haven, Oakland and Providence and could begin at any time.
The union said it was seeking higher wages, fair staffing and an end to job cuts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It said cuts and customer service cuts have resulted in many workers losing their jobs, while those who remain have had an increased workload and “poor working conditions”.
“Ten thousand hotel workers across the country are striking because the hotel industry has gone off the rails,” UNITE HERE International President Gwen Mills said in a statement. “Everyone has suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic, but now the hotel industry is making record profits while workers and guests are being left behind. Too many hotels have yet to restore the standard services that guests deserve, like automated housekeeping and room service.”
“Workers' incomes are not enough to support their families, many can no longer afford to live in the cities they host, and the work is taking its toll on their bodies. We cannot accept a 'new normal' where hotel companies profit by cutting services to guests and abandoning their promises to employees,” Mills continued.
The union is asking guests “not to dine, stay or meet in striking hotels or hotels where employees are on strike until a new contract is signed.”
