10,000 hotel workers go on strike

Thousands of hotel workers went on strike across eight cities ahead of the Labor Day holiday to demand higher wages and fair staffing and workloads.

The union representing the hotel workers, UNITE HERE, said that approximately 10,000 workers across 24 hotels in Boston, Greenwich, Honolulu, Kauai, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Seattle will be striking starting on Sunday. Each of the strikes will last between two to three days, according to the union.

The union noted that strikes have been authorized in Baltimore, New Haven, Oakland, and Providence as well, meaning that they could begin at any time.

The union said that they are calling for better wages, fair staffing and an end to COVID-19 pandemic cuts. The union said as a result of staffing cuts and offering fewer guest services, many workers lost jobs while the remaining workers have increased workload and have “painful working 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 a statement. “During COVID, everyone suffered, but now the hotel industry is making record profits while workers and guests are left behind. Too many hotels still haven’t restored standard services that guests deserve, like automatic daily housekeeping and room service.”

“Workers aren’t 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. We won’t accept a ‘new normal’ where hotel companies profit by cutting their offerings to guests and abandoning their commitments to workers,” Mills continued.

The union is asking guests “not to eat, sleep, or meet at any hotel that is on strike or where workers have been on strike until they secure a new contract.”