This Labor Day weekend was anything but restful for holiday-goers and hoteliers alike, considering the large-scale hotel workers’ strike that unfolded over the weekend. Over 10,000 members of hotel staff from dozens of U.S. hotels went on strike to protest against the poor wages and understaffing issues they have borne the brunt of over the last few years.
The hotel workers union, UNITE HERE, organized the strike, and luxury hotels like Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Hotels, and Marriott International at locations ranging from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Boston, Massachusetts, were affected. The labor strike has affected the functioning of the hotels and their ability to serve guests sufficiently, especially considering that workers ranging from restaurant staff to housekeeping left their posts to participate in the protest.
Image: UNITE HERE, Hyatt Regency Greenwich
Hotel Workers Strike, Demands of Better Wages Remain Unsatisfied
UNITE HERE, the labor union supporting the workers involved in the strike represents over 300,000 individuals across Canada and the United States. In their own words, their members “work in the hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, transportation, and airport industries.” The hotel worker strike has impacted the quality of service these institutions were able to provide to guests, affecting business even if the issues were witnessed temporarily.
The union has been hard at work trying to negotiate better working conditions for those it represents, and its work has begun by targeting three major hotel chains—Hilton, Marriott, and Hyatt. Over 10,000 hotel workers across 25 hotels went on strike on the morning of September 1, 2024. The strike was scheduled to last three days and around 840 workers went back to their jobs on Tuesday. However, the majority of protestors are still out on the streets, chanting for better wages and work conditions.
According to UNITE HERE’s press release, the strikes in Baltimore and Seattle have come to an end, but 9,376 workers are still on strike in seven cities—Boston, Greenwich, Honolulu, Kauai, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose. The hotel workers’ union asserts that strikes have been authorized in other regions like New Haven, Oakland, and Providence, and could begin at any time.
Image: UNITE HERE
“One Job Should Be Enough”—What Are the Hotel Workers Striking For?
The 10,000 hotel workers who have gone on strike all agree that the wages they are paid have not kept up with inflation and the rising cost of living. Many workers complain that their earnings are insufficient to make ends meet, forcing them to work multiple jobs to survive. The union also claims that many COVID-era staffing cuts reduced the workforce considerably and these measures have not been reversed to match the demands of the hotel, leaving these businesses understaffed.
Hotel staffers continue to pay workers less than their services deserve, while the burden of covering up for the shortage falls to the workers who are constantly overworked. According to Reuters, this strike began at a time when the industry saw a 9% increase in Labor Day weekend domestic travel compared to the year before. Despite the inflation, the travel and tourism industry has not been stuck facing the same scale of losses that they had encountered during the COVID-19 period.
“Room rates are at record highs, and the U.S. hotel industry made over $100 billion in gross operating profit in 2022,” UNITE HERE reports, “But hotel staffing per occupied room was down 13% from 2019 to 2022 as many hotels maintained COVID-era cuts, including understaffing, ending automatic daily housekeeping, and removing food and beverage options.”
In a statement to PBS, Michael D’Angelo, head of labor relations for Hyatt in the Americas, stated “We are disappointed that UNITE HERE has chosen to strike while Hyatt remains willing to negotiate. We look forward to continuing to negotiate fair contracts and recognize the contributions of Hyatt employees.” Hilton has also committed to the negotiations but the results of their talk will take a while to reach the public.
This isn’t the first time the union has led a labor strike against hotels and the working conditions that prevailed at those organizations. Last year, UNITE HERE was able to support 15,000 workers as they went on strike during the Fourth of July holiday weekend, in Los Angeles and Orange counties in Southern California. These were followed by rolling strikes that eventually convinced the hotels to make accommodations.
These aren’t the only strikes faced across the country. Over 4,500 employees at Fred Meyers went on an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike recently, with similar demands for better wages. Although the strike has come to an end, tensions are still high as the negotiations for a fair contract continue. Similarly, over 32,000 Boeing workers are at risk of going on strike if the company is unable to negotiate a new contract with the union members by September 12.
