By: Siyona Singhal

Local Editor 

Over Labor Day weekend, more than 10,000 hotel workers across the U.S. went on strike. These workers included front desk staff, housekeepers, and servers, all joined for one cause: justice. The COVID-19 pandemic forced hotels to cut back on services, decreasing pay for workers while increasing their workload. Employees lost money due to reduced hours. Furthermore, workers cited the reasoning for their strike, explaining that their income is not enough to support the cost of living. 

Workers banded together, creating the Unite Here union. With all the workers combined, the strike spans over nine U.S. cities and 25 hotels. Gwen Mills, the union’s international president, said in a statement,  “Workers aren’t making enough to support their families, and many can no longer afford to live in the cities that they welcome guests to. We won’t accept a ‘new normal’ where hotel companies profit by cutting their offerings to guests and abandoning their commitments to workers.” Unite Here wants services restored, such as daily room cleaning. According to the union, not having daily room cleaning services reduces the number of housekeeping jobs by 39%. 

They planned the strike to last only three days. However, 700 employees in San Diego, California, will stay on strike for the foreseeable future until they reach a consensus. This group of protesters worked at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. Due to the strike, the hotel is receiving multiple complaints about reduced services and noisy picket lines, which are boundaries established by workers. However, the workers refuse to give up until a fair contract is drawn up. The hotel is seeking temporary replacement workers, advertising $26 per hour for full-time housekeepers, $2 more than the average pay for the job. 

In spite of this, 840 workers were unable to stay on strike and returned to work on Sept. 2. Jerome Roberts, a dishwasher at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor, said, “I walked out today because we just cannot keep working paycheck to paycheck, not able to pay our bills…Going on strike is hard, but not nearly as hard as trying to get by on what we are getting paid.” Like Roberts, employees who returned to work did so unwillingly. 

The union is using similar strategies to the strike that took place during the Fourth of July Weekend in 2023. The union hopes to recreate the success they had from past strikes and earn fairness and respect from the hotels at which they work. 

(Sources: NY Times, CNN, Fox)