U.S. Hotel Strikes Grow as Hilton Hotel Workers Walk Out in Seattle
Over 4,300 Hotel Workers Are on Strike Across the U.S., and More Strikes Could Begin at Any Time
Seattle, Wash. – Hundreds of Hilton hotel workers at Seattle airport hotels walked off the job today as strikes continue to impact the U.S. hotel industry. 4,375 hotel workers are currently on strike at Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott hotels in Boston, Honolulu, San Francisco, and Seattle. The weeklong strikes by 374 workers at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Seattle Airport and Hilton Seattle Airport & Conference Center will last until the early hours of October 19, while strikes in Boston, Honolulu, and San Francisco will continue until workers have won their contracts.
Workers are calling for higher wages, fair staffing and workloads, and the reversal of COVID-era cuts. They are members of the UNITE HERE union, and they include housekeepers, front desk agents, cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders, bellhops, and more.
“I’m on strike so I can provide for my family. My last check was $300 short just for rent, and I had to go to the food bank so we’d have enough to eat,” said Pearl Johnson, a housekeeper at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Seattle Airport. “The job is so hard on my body that I go home and I’m too exhausted to cook dinner for my daughter. It makes me feel like I’m falling short as a mom. It shouldn’t be this way. We need better.”
“Hotel workers are tired of working long hours while barely getting by. Hotel workers keep walking out on strike because hotel corporations like Hilton can afford to raise wages,” said Gwen Mills, International President of UNITE HERE. “The hotel industry is not only recovering from the pandemic but making record profits by cutting staff and guest services. Strikes will continue in the hotel industry until Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott show they respect our work by settling contracts that help our members recover too.”
The union urges travelers not to eat, meet, or sleep at any hotel that’s on strike. Picket lines will run outside struck hotels for up to 24 hours a day, and hotels may suspend services while trying to operate with skeleton staffing. Guests have experienced disruptions including unavailable daily housekeeping, towels and linens piled up in hallways, piles of trash visible outside, closed bars and restaurants, and reduced pool hours. In one case, guests in swimsuits held a protest in the hotel lobby to demand refunds.
UNITE HERE 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. 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.
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. More strikes followed in the subsequent weeks. Hotel workers in Greenwich and New Haven, Conn., Providence, R.I., and San Diego, Calif., have recently ratified new union contracts that include wage increases and affordable health care, but the union cautions that strike issues are unresolved in most cities. Negotiations are ongoing and more strikes have been authorized at additional hotels in Baltimore, Boston, Honolulu, Kauai, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Mateo County, and Seattle.
Hotel room rates are at record highs, and the U.S. hotel industry made over $100 billion in gross operating profit in 2022. But 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 also says that many hotels took advantage of the pandemic to cut staffing and guest services like automatic daily housekeeping and room service. Staffing per occupied room was down 13% from 2019 to 2022 as many hotels maintained COVID-era cuts, causing some workers to lose jobs and income while increased workloads cause pain and stress for others.
Last year, UNITE HERE members won record contracts after rolling strikes at Los Angeles hotels and a 47-day strike at Detroit casinos.