More union strikes hit California, Hawaii hotels

NATIONAL REPORT – In the wake of widespread hotel worker strikes over Labor Day weekend, more than 1,500 hospitality employees walked off the job on September 22 in San Francisco, according to Unite Here.

Another 2,000 hotel workers walked off the job in an “open-ended strike” on Tuesday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Hilton’s largest hotel in the world as contract negotiations stalled.

A total of over 4,000 hotel workers are now on strike at Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott hotels in Honolulu, San Diego, and San Francisco.

Unite Here asserts that since 2019 U.S. hotel gross profits are up over 26% but staffing remains down 13%. Hotels sought to control costs during the inflation surge two years ago, but employees faced an identical problem in their personal finances.

The union said after months of contract negotiations, the workers’ biggest concerns have still not been addressed. They’re demanding increased wages, fairer workloads, and a reversal of COVID-era cuts in guests services and amenities.

The workers in San Francisco joined hundreds of hotel employees in San Diego who have been on strike since September 1, bringing the total number of striking workers across San Francisco and San Diego to more than 2,200.

The strikes in San Francisco and San Diego, organized by the Unite Here hospitality labor union, are impacting the Grand Hyatt San Francisco, Hilton San Francisco Union Square and Hilton San Diego Bayfront.

In a press release, Unite Here urged travelers not to eat, sleep or meet at any hotel that is on strike, while also warning that impacted properties may be forced to suspend services due to low staffing.

The strikes in San Francisco are part of a larger labor action spanning nine U.S. cities. Hotel workers are pushing for higher wages, better staffing ratios and the reinstatement of pandemic-era service reductions.

In addition to active strikes in San Francisco and San Diego, more than 1,200 hotel workers recently walked off the job in Boston as part of a limited-duration strike that ran from September 19 to September 21. The latest Boston labor action affected four hotels: the Omni Parker House, Omni Boston Seaport, Renaissance Boston Seaport and Westin Boston Seaport.