America’s massive hotel strike just got even bigger

By CNN Newsource

Published September 2, 2024 7:33 AM

By Gloria Pazmino and Chris Isidore, CNN

(CNN) — Baltimore hotel workers are joining a massive nationwide strike against three major hotel chains during one of the biggest travel holidays of the year.

Unite Here, the union representing hotel workers, said approximately 200 hotel workers walked off the job in Baltimore at the Hilton Inner Harbor this morning.

Hotel union workers are now on strike across 25 US cities. More than 10,200 hotel workers at dozens of hotels stretching from Boston to the West Coast to Hawaii went on strike early Sunday morning.

“I walked out today because we just cannot keep working paycheck to paycheck, not able to pay our bills,” Jerome Roberts, a dishwasher at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor said in a statement. “Going on strike is hard, but not nearly as hard as trying to get by on what we are getting paid. We told the bosses in our negotiations how much we are struggling right now but they didn’t care. We are on strike to make them pay.”

Workers say they want higher pay, better conditions and more staff to help. The union is asking for a restoration of many of the pandemic-era cuts that hotels made, including daily room cleaning. The union says the travel and hotel industries have recovered from the pandemic but worker salaries have not reflected the comeback.

The hotels are reportedly still open but guests are contending with a skeleton staff unable to provide full services.

“We’re on strike because the hotel industry has gotten off track,” Gwen Mills, International President of Unite Here, said in a statement Sunday morning. “During Covid, everyone suffered, but now the hotel industry is making record profits while workers and guests are left behind. Too many hotels still haven’t restored standard services that guests deserve. Workers aren’t making enough to support their families. Many can no longer afford to live in the cities that they welcome guests to.”

The hotel chains facing striking workers include Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott. The hotels have 23,776 rooms between them in the cities of Baltimore, Boston, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, as well as Honolulu and Kauai in Hawaii, and Greenwich, Connecticut, according to the union.

The union is threatening to possibly expand the strike to as many as 65 hotels in 12 different cities, possibly adding hotels in Oakland, California, as well as Providence, Rhode Island, and New Haven, Connecticut. Spokespeople for Hilton and Hyatt told CNN on Friday they are committed to reaching deals with the union, but they also will continue to serve customers during any work stoppage.

Hyatt said in a statement it is disappointed by the union’s decision to strike. “We look forward to continuing to negotiate fair contracts and recognize the contributions of Hyatt employees,” said Michael D’Angelo, head of labor relations at Hyatt.

Last year, the 15,000 members of the same union went on strike during the Fourth of July holiday weekend at 65 hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties in Southern California. They returned to work a few days later but staged a series of rolling strikes in the months that followed, sometimes tied to major tourist periods, such as the weekend of Taylor Swift concerts in Los Angeles.

These strikes are set to end after three days.