Thousands of Hotel Workers Could Go on Strike This Fall

With union contracts expiring for about 40,000 hotel workers in the U.S. and Canada at the end of August, strikes are becoming a real possibility at major hotels. 

Employees of Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, and Omni at properties in seven U.S. cities – Baltimore, Boston, Honolulu, Greenwich, New Haven, Providence, and San Francisco – have voted to authorize strikes, according to UNITE HERE, the union representing them. There are also upcoming strike authorization votes in Oakland, San Diego, San Jose, and Seattle. 

“This is the first time in history that hotel workers in so many cities have voted to authorize strikes that could hit the hotel industry all at the same time,” said Gwen Mills, international president of UNITE HERE. “Hotel workers are preparing for huge, historic potential strikes because we don’t want hotels to become the next airline industry – where guests pay more and get less while workers are left behind.” 

Housekeepers, servers, and front desk workers are asking for higher wages and improved staffing. Employees and union members describe frustrating situations where COVID-era cuts to staff have not been restored, leaving workers with oversized workloads. 

“The hotel industry is making massive profits by throwing workers under the bus – with wages that aren’t enough to cover the cost of living and staffing cuts that have made hotel jobs more painful than ever,” Mills said. “Workers are fed up with the hotels, and we’re ready to make them pay.” 

Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, and Omni hotel groups have not yet responded to TMR’s requests for comment. 

Contract negotiations are ongoing, and strikes could start at any time after the contracts expire next month. Dozens of hotels now risk workers going on strike.  

In Hawaii, where 94% of workers voted to authorize strikes, those hotels include Hilton Hawaiian Village, Waikiki Beach Resort, Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort & Spa, Moana Surfrider – a Westin Resort Spa, The Royal Hawaiian, Sheraton Princess Kaiulani, Sheraton Waikiki, and Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa. 

In San Francisco, possible affected hotels are the Grand Hyatt Union Square, Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Hyatt Regency at Embarcadero, Marriott Marquis, Marriott Union Square, Palace Hotel, Parc 55 San Francisco and The Westin St. Francis. In Boston, there’s the Omni Boston Hotel, the W Boston, and the Sheraton Boston Hotel, and more.