Approximately 10,000 U.S. hotel workers began a multi-day strike on Sunday in eight cities, including Boston, Honolulu, San Francisco, San Diego and Seattle, after contract talks with Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide and Hyatt Hotels Corp. stalled. The workers, members of the UNITE HERE labor union, are demanding higher wages, fair staffing and the reversal of COVID-era cuts.
The union said insufficient wages force many to work multiple jobs to cover living costs.
“I have to work a second job because my hotel job isn’t enough to support my kids as a single mom,” said Mary Taboniar, a housekeeper at Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu for six years. “I’m living on the edge, unsure if I’ll be able to pay our rent, groceries, or provide my family with health care. It’s so stressful. One job should be enough.”
The union claims many hotels exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to cut staffing and guest services without restoration, resulting in job losses and worsening conditions for those who remain.
“Ten thousand hotel workers across the U.S. are on strike because the industry has gone off track,” said Gwen Mills, UNITE HERE’s international president. “During COVID, everyone suffered, but now the hotel industry is making record profits while workers and guests are left behind.” Mills added that many hotels still haven’t restored essential services like daily housekeeping and room service. “Workers aren’t earning enough to support their families, and many can’t afford to live in the cities they serve. Excessive workloads are taking a toll on their health.”
Mills emphasized that workers refuse to accept a “new normal” where companies profit by cutting services and neglecting their commitments to workers.
“I’m on strike because I don’t want hotels to become the next airline industry,” said Christian Carbajal, a market attendant at Hilton Bayfront in San Diego for 15 years. “I used to work in room service, but after COVID, they closed my department. Now I work in the grab-and-go market. Guests complain that they can no longer get a steak delivered to their room, and tips aren’t what they used to be. I’m making less, and now two families share my house because we can’t afford the rent. The hotels should respect our work and our guests.”
The union noted that room rates are at record highs, and the U.S. hotel industry made over $100 billion in gross operating profit in 2022. However, staffing per occupied room dropped 13 percent from 2019 to 2022, as many hotels maintained COVID-era cuts, including understaffing, ending automatic daily housekeeping, and removing food and beverage options.
“Since COVID, they expect us to provide five-star service with three-star staff,” said Elena Duran, a server at Marriott’s Palace Hotel in San Francisco for 33 years. “A couple of weeks ago, we had 98% occupancy, but only three servers were scheduled when we used to have a team of four or five. It’s too much pressure on us to go faster instead of calling in more staff.”
UNITE HERE has urged guests to avoid staying, dining or meeting at hotels where workers are on strike until a new contract is secured. Hotels may suspend services while operating with minimal staffing and picket lines will be active outside struck hotels up to 24 hours a day.
Labor Day weekend is one of the busiest travel periods in the U.S. AAA reported that bookings were up 9 percent from last year, while the Transportation Security Administration forecasted a record 17 million travelers.
Michael D’Angelo, head of U.S. labor relations at Hyatt, expressed disappointment that UNITE HERE chose to strike.
“We look forward to continuing to negotiate fair contracts and recognize the contributions of Hyatt employees. Hyatt hotels have contingency plans in place to minimize the impact on operations related to potential strike activity,” D’Angelo said in a statement, according to a Reuters report.
On Aug. 6, about 13,500 unionized hotel workers in Boston, Honolulu, Providence, and San Francisco held strike authorization votes at 125 Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and Omni hotels as their contracts neared expiration.
Rep. Aaron Bean delivers keynote addressPhoto credit: AAHOA