2,500 Hotel Workers Now on Strike; Union Calls on Hotel Companies to “Bet on SF” and Settle Contracts with Future Bookings on the Line

San Francisco, Calif. – Hotel workers are now on strike at all of San Francisco’s three biggest hotels after 500 workers at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis walked off the job this morning. They join 2,000 other striking workers at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco, Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Marriott Union Square, Palace Hotel, and Westin St. Francis who are calling for hotel companies to “Bet on SF” by settling contracts with affordable health care, raises, and the reversal of COVID-era cuts.

Photos and B-roll are available for download here. Media are invited to interview workers and union officials on the picket line. Call Ted at 919-636-1124.

The strike now includes 2,500 housekeepers, bellhops, cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders, and more. The workers are members of the UNITE HERE Local 2 union. Strike activity has roiled the hotel industry for two months, disrupting hotel operations and leading to guest complaints and demands for refunds.

In August, workers offered to sacrifice most guaranteed wage increases and make their own pay contingent on future hotel profits if the hotels agreed to “Bet on SF” by reversing COVID-era service cuts. San Francisco’s tourism industry has been slow to recover from the pandemic, and workers say the hotel industry is holding the city back through disinvestment and understaffing. They want hotels to reopen restaurants that bring foot traffic downtown, staff up on bellmen and doormen who serve as eyes on the street, and take other proactive measures to end the “doom loop.” The hotels have not agreed and are proposing to phase out workers’ union health care.

“My job was always painful, but now it’s even worse,” said Consuelo Escorcia, Lobby Attendant at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis for 34 years. “They used to staff six of us to clean the lobby and public bathrooms on each shift, but now we have only two or three. I have to clean double the toilets and empty twice as many trash cans. I’ve sacrificed so much for this job over the years. I had to have four surgeries in my hand and shoulder. But in return, the hotel has only made my job harder.”

Striking hotel workers have warned that the hotel’s extreme negotiating positions threaten the city’s economic recovery. Around two dozen clients that book room blocks and/or events have pulled their business from San Francisco hotels since the strike began, and four major clients have pledged to book 25,000 room nights in San Francisco hotels beginning in 2025, if the strike is settled in time.

“Hotel workers have made it clear that we won’t give up when our health care, our families, and the city we love are on the line,” said Lizzy Tapia, President of UNITE HERE Local 2.“San Francisco hotels have a choice to make. They can ‘Bet on SF’ by settling contracts that actually allow hotel workers to support our families and help rebuild our local tourism industry, or own the fact that they are driving business away.”

Local 2 has called on hotels to notify guests if they are booked at a hotel where workers are on strike; many guests have reported that they were not notified of raucous picket lines or service disruptions, even at hotels that have been on strike for weeks. Picket lines run outside struck hotels for up to 24 hours a day, and guests have experienced disruptions including unavailable daily housekeeping, trash and used towels and linens piled up in hallways, closed bars and restaurants, and more.

The union urges travelers not to eat, meet, or sleep at any hotel that’s on strike. 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.

Over 10,000 hotel workers have gone on strike in eleven cities across the U.S. since Labor Day. San Francisco is the only city where workers remain on strike.

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UNITE HERE Local 2 is the hospitality workers’ union in San Francisco, San Mateo County, and the East and North Bay, representing over 15,000 workers in hotels, restaurants, tech cafeterias, sports stadiums, and at SFO and OAK.