More Cities to Announce Marriott Strike Votes in Coming Days

Waikiki, Hawai’i – Today 7,800 UNITE HERE hotel workers at Marriott-operated hotels across four of the largest tourism destination locations in North America announced that they will be holding strike votes against Marriott next week in a series of rolling votes. The strike votes for next week in Waikiki, Maui, San Francisco, and Boston Marriott hotels cover 7,800 union UNITE HERE workers throughout twenty hotels in the four cities, and come on the heels of mass Labor Day demonstrations by UNITE HERE Marriott workers in eight cities across the country—including more than 100 workers arrested in multiple cities for staging acts of civil disobedience outside Marriott hotels to protest Marriott’s lack of movement at the bargaining table on key issues in those cities.

The strike votes begin on September 10, as 3,500 UNITE HERE Local 5 Waikiki and Maui Marriott workers in Hawai’i will vote on striking six major Marriott properties between the two cities. The votes continue September 12, as 1,800 UNITE HERE Local 26 Marriott workers in Boston will hold their strike votes. The next day, September 13, there will be 2,500 UNITE HERE Local 2 Marriott workers in San Francisco voting whether to strike seven major Marriotts in their city.

UNITE HERE represents more than 20,000 Marriott hotel workers across North America, of whom more than 12,000 have had their contracts expire and are locked in ongoing negotiations. Three of the most crucial points of disagreement include the need for Marriott to be a leader in the hospitality industry, and recognize their role as the largest and most profitable hotel company in the world, by offering workers jobs that are enough for them to live on. Additionally, workers are fighting for improved workplace safety, particularly around unsafe workloads and strenuous physical labor created by the so-called “Green Choice” program, and pioneering job protections around technology and innovation in the hospitality industry.

“Across North America, union workers are ready to fight back against a rigged economy that has left working-class families behind for too long now,” said D. Taylor, international president of UNITE HERE. “UNITE HERE has a proud tradition of refusing to take concessionary contracts and changing lives around the world by raising the standards for union and non-union hospitality workers. Our members are proud of the exceptional guest service they provide the people who stay in our hotels, but 8,000 Marriott workers are ready and prepared to strike to secure their fair share from a highly profitable company receiving major tax handouts from Donald Trump while workers struggle to get by.” In the coming weeks, hotel workers in additional cities will be announcing dates of more planned strike votes against Marriott.

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UNITE HERE represents 270,000 members working in the hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, transportation, and airport industries in the U.S. and Canada. Learn more at www.OneJob.org