Tens of thousands of hotel workers in some of the biggest hotel chains across the United States went on a 3-day strike on 1 September 2024, over a major holiday weekend, to demand better pay and working conditions. Workers struck work in nine cities, from East to West of the country, including Boston, Honolulu, San Francisco, San Diego and Seattle. The strike was triggered by the managements of the Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott hotel chains failing to reach an agreement in wage contract negotiations with the UNITE HERE union, representing the hotel workers.
Hotel workers are demanding higher wages and better working conditions. They are not earning enough to support their families. Many workers can no longer afford to live in the cities that they work in. They face increasing rents each year and rising costs of living. They are unable to afford the cost of essential goods for their families. They clearly see that the economy is not serving their interests but those of the billionaire real estate capitalist owners of the giant hotel chains.
The thousands of protesting workers – which included guest managers, chefs and housekeepers — carried placards with slogans reading “One job should be enough” because most workers are forced to work more than 70 hours a week, at two or even three jobs, to feed their families.
The union is demanding that all staff positions be filled, as existed before the Covid pandemic. The union has pointed out that the travel and hotel industries have recovered from the pandemic but workers’ salaries and working hours do not reflect that recovery. While hotels are charging record high rates for rooms, wage cuts for the workers made in 2019, of nearly 15 per cent still remain. Workers continue to face long working hours and heavy workloads, besides the low pay.
This countrywide strike of hotel workers follows a strike during the Fourth of July holiday weekend in 2023, at 65 hotels in Southern California. Workers returned to work a few days later but staged a series of rolling strikes in the months that followed. They have been demanding new wage contracts since April this year and decided to resume their strike to force the giant hotel chains to address their demands.
The workers have announced that they will extend their strike till a new wage agreement is reached. The strike has spread to other cities, with many more hundreds of workers on strike for an indefinite period starting 5 September. The union plans to further expand the strike to more cities.