Hotel Workers Strike in Boston, New Haven, and San Diego
More Hotel Strikes as Labor Disputes Continue Over Wages, Workloads, and COVID-Era Cuts; More Cities Could Announce Strikes Soon
CORRECTION: Strikes have also been authorized in Sacramento; yesterday, workers at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike.
Boston, Mass. – Over 1,250 hotel workers are on strike in Boston, New Haven, Conn., and San Diego as labor disputes continue across the country. They are calling for higher wages, fair staffing and workloads, and the reversal of COVID-era cuts. The workers are members of the UNITE HERE union, and they include housekeepers, front desk agents, cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders, bellhops, doormen, and more.
After months of contract negotiations, over 10,000 hotel workers across the U.S. went on strike on Labor Day weekend, most on limited duration strikes that ended after two or three days. Strike issues in all these cities remain unresolved, and negotiations are ongoing. Strikes have been authorized and could begin at any time in Baltimore, Greenwich, Honolulu, Kauai, Oakland, Providence, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle.
“I am on strike because I am fighting for a better future – for myself, my children, and all the hotel workers who are here today,” said Dusu Kuyateh, a housekeeper at the W Boston Hotel for 14 years. “I love my job as a hotel housekeeper. When the guests come to my room, I want them to feel ‘WOW!’ But the paycheck we have now is not enough for my family. We are living from paycheck to paycheck. Every year, my landlord increases the rent. I need to have some savings, to leave something for my children in the future.”
“Right now I have two jobs to make ends meet, and bosses at the hotel have already tried to pile on more work. We should be able to live here without needing to have multiple jobs to pay the bills,” said Bobby May, a front desk agent at the Omni New Haven Hotel. “My father was a coal miner and his union health insurance saved his life. He would have died from black lung, when every other insurance refused to pay his health care costs, but the union health insurance covered all of it and saved his life. Just like my father in West Virginia, I am up against the billionaire class.”
The strikes in Boston at the Dagny Boston, the Newbury Boston, Moxy Boston Downtown, and W Boston began today and will last three days. The strike in New Haven at the Omni New Haven Hotel began today, and the duration has not been announced. The strike in San Diego at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront began on Sept. 1 and will continue until workers have won their contract.
The union urges guests not to eat, sleep, or meet at any hotel that is on strike. Hotels may suspend services while trying to operate with skeleton staffing, and picket lines will run outside struck hotels for up to 24 hours a day. Guests are encouraged to consult the union’s travel guide and use its Labor Dispute Map at FairHotel.org, where they can search hotels by name or city to learn whether a hotel is on strike and find alternatives.
Hotel workers report that their wages aren’t enough to support their families, and many have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. The union says that many hotels took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to cut staffing and guest services that were never restored, causing workers to lose jobs and income – and creating painful working conditions for those who carry the increased workload.
Hotel room rates are at record highs, and the U.S. hotel industry made over $100 billion in gross operating profit in 2022. Meanwhile, staffing per occupied room was down 13% from 2019 to 2022 as many hotels maintained COVID-era cuts, including understaffing, ending automatic daily housekeeping, and removing food and beverage options.
“Hotel workers across the U.S. are ready to do whatever it takes to get the hotel industry back on track,” said Gwen Mills, International President of UNITE HERE. “Too many hotel workers have to work multiple jobs because their wages aren’t enough to survive in the cities where they welcome travelers, and staffing and service cuts have hurt guests and made hotel jobs more painful than ever. But we know how to fight, and we’re determined to win a future where hotel workers, guests, and companies can all succeed. We urge travelers to stay alert and not to eat, meet, or sleep at any hotel that’s on strike.”
Last year, UNITE HERE members won record contracts after rolling strikes at Los Angeles hotels and a 47-day strike at Detroit casinos.