Dive Brief:
- Thousands of hotel employees across the U.S. and Canada protested Wednesday as union contracts for 40,000 hospitality workers are set to expire this year, according to hospitality union Unite Here.
- Workers are preparing for “possible widespread labor disputes” as negotiations begin for new contracts at major companies including Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt, the union said.
- In recent months, hotel workers across the country have won “best-ever” contracts in Southern California, Michigan and Las Vegas. This year could see more employees advocate for similar wage increases.
Dive Insight:
More than 1,000 unionized hotel workers rallied in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, according to DC News Now.
And in San Diego and San Francisco, hundreds of people marched to advocate for higher wages, according to the San Francisco Examiner and the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Union workers also held actions in Sacramento, California; Minneapolis; Miami; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Providence, Rhode Island; Toronto; and more.
Workers protesting called for the hotel industry to raise wages and reverse pandemic-era staffing cuts they claim have led to “painful” working conditions, according to Unite Here. Despite the hotel industry’s post-COVID rebound, hotel workers still face heavy workloads, reduced hours and wages that don’t keep pace with the rising cost of living, the union said.
“We want to defend automatic daily housekeeping because rooms are dirtier and harder for us if they go multiple days without cleaning,” said Tammy Tam, a housekeeper at the W Hotel San Francisco, in a statement. “It hurts my knees and shoulders because I have to scrub harder to get all the grime off the bathtub and lift more wet towels.”
“This campaign is about the future of hospitality workers – and the hospitality industry. We don’t want to see hotels go the way of the airline industry, where customers feel they’re constantly paying more and getting less,” said Unite Here International President Gwen Mills. “Jobs in hospitality are growing faster than in any other sector of the U.S. economy, and this fight will set the standard for millions of Americans and Canadians who work in cooking, cleaning, and customer service.”
Contracts for union workers at 230 hotels across the U.S. and Canada expire in more than 22 cities this year, including Boston, Honolulu, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Most will expire by August.
Threatened and actual hotel strikes have already been successful elsewhere in the country. More than 40 hotels in Southern California — where Unite Here has been holding multiproperty strikes since July — have reached agreements with workers to raise wages.
And in Las Vegas, union workers won their highest-ever wage increases in November. Those wages have caused an increase in operating costs at Vegas resorts, Caesars Entertainment CEO Tom Reeg said during an April 30 earnings call.
