Around 10,000 hotel workers, who are part of 24 hotels in eight cities, took to the streets this Sunday, September 1, to demand a pay rise and better working conditions. The employees, who are represented by the Unite Here union, reported that negotiations are at a standstill.
Hotel workers in Boston, San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, Seattle, Greenwich, Connecticut, and Honolulu walked off the job and took to the streets to demand continued negotiations for higher wages, more staff, and reduced workloads, as work has increased significantly since the pandemic.
The strikes could extend to other cities, including New Haven, Baltimore and Oakland, by Monday. The strike comes just over a holiday weekend in the United States.
“Hyatt is willing to negotiate”
“We told the manager many times that this was too much for us,” Amahmoud, whose hotel was among those where workers had authorized a strike but had not yet left the hotel, told The Associated Press.
Michael D’Angelo, Hyatt’s director of labor relations for the Americas, said the company’s hotels have contingency plans in place to minimize the impact of the strikes. “We are disappointed that Unite Here has chosen to strike while Hyatt remains willing to negotiate,” he said.
In a statement before the strikes began, Hilton said it was “committed to negotiating in good faith to reach fair and reasonable agreements.”
Cut expenses permanently
Employees supported by their union accuse hotels of using lockouts as a pretext to permanently cut costs by laying off employees and suspending guest services.
As a result, its members have lost income and jobs, and those who remain endure difficult working conditions, reported the newspaper Infobae.
Women without pay
The labor unrest serves as a reminder of the effects the pandemic has had on low-wage women, especially Black and Hispanic women, who have largely returned to the workforce after bearing the brunt of unpaid leave during the pandemic.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. hospitality industry employs about 1.9 million people, about 196,000 fewer workers than in February 2019. Nearly 90% of building cleaning employees are women, according to federal statistics, AP shared.
Union President Gwen Mills characterizes the contract negotiations as part of a long-running battle to secure compensation that supports service workers’ families, as in traditionally male-dominated industries.
Cleaning service is done by women
“Work in the hospitality industry in general is undervalued, and it’s no coincidence that it’s disproportionately women and people of color doing the work,” Mills said.
Unite Here hopes to build on the success it achieved in Southern California, where it held several strikes, won significant wage increases, increased employer pension contributions and guarantees of a fair workload in a new contract with 34 hotels.
With information from AP
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