Latest Example of Hotel Giant Failing to Deliver Transparency to Customers

San Francisco, CA – This morning, as news broke publicly of Marriott’s failure to secure and protect data for 500 million customers, the hospitality worker union behind the 7,700-worker strikes at Marriott this fall was quick to draw parallels between Marriott’s months-long failure to disclose the breach and their ongoing refusal to disclose mass labor unrest to guests whose stays at dozens of Marriott hotels were impacted by it. International President of UNITE HERE D. Taylor issued the following statement:

“Marriott knew about the serious data breach of up to 500 million of their customers as early as September 8, yet failed to disclose the disaster to their millions of impacted guests for months—just like they failed to disclose to millions of impacted guests, despite weeks of advance knowledge, that 7,700 of their own employees who provide vital front-line guest services were set to strike two dozen of their largest properties across eight cities.

“This enormous data breach is the latest example of Marriott letting down their own customers by failing to disclose information directly salient to their guests after having months of knowledge of it.

“We are in the ninth week of hotel strikes in San Francisco, where operations inside Marriott hotels have been severely limited as thousands of Marriott employees continue to strike. Marriott is aware of the profound impact the ongoing San Francisco strike is having on the guest experience in their hotels, yet still fails to notify future guests who book at these hotels about the ongoing 24-hour picket lines outside of them or the reduced services they will receive while paying full price. Marriott should start putting transparency for their guests ahead of concern for damaged profits, and begin immediately notifying guests who book at the hotels under strike about the disruptions they will encounter if they stay in them.”

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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