In Show of Resolve, Strikers to Hold Special Thanksgiving Dinners on Strike Lines, Hang Christmas Lights, Carol  

San Francisco, CA – Thanksgiving for 5,200 striking Marriott workers and their families will take place on the strike lines after Marriott failed to end the strikes in Hawaii and San Francisco this past week.

Pre-holiday negotiations ended without significant movement from Marriott, and thousands of striking workers in the largest strike locations of Maui, Oahu, and San Francisco have responded with resolve and unity. Strikers and their families are marking the holiday with potluck Thanksgiving dinners outside Marriott hotels under strike, hanging Christmas decorations at the strike lines, and singing holiday carols to indicate that they are prepared to be out as long as it takes to achieve a fair contract.

“We are disappointed that Marriott has still not made the movement needed to resolve the strikes for 5,200 of their workers, but are resolute and united in our commitment to turning these positions into safe and fair jobs where one job is enough,” said D. Taylor, international president of UNITE HERE. “UNITE HERE is proud of the courage of our members. Their courage will transform workplace standards in their communities. We will never stop fighting to make one job enough for hospitality workers.”

Although Marriott has agreed to settlements for roughly one-third of the original 7,700 workers across eight cities who went on strike over the past several weeks, the vast majority of the original strikers remain on strike. There are 2,500 Marriott workers on strike in San Francisco and 2,700 on strike in Hawaii.

Negotiations with Marriott will resume on Monday, November 26 in Hawaii, and shortly afterward in San Francisco. Workers are striking for one job at the richest hotel company in the world to be enough to live on. Workers have been on strike at Marriott since the first week of October, making this the longest and largest multi-city hotel strike ever.

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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