10,000 US hotel workers strike as contract talks break down
About 10,000 US hotel workers strike across eight cities during Labor Day weekend
Workers are striking at 24 hotels including Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt
Unite Here union says each city's strike will last two or three days
5,000 more hotel workers may go on strike at any time
Adds bullet points, and updates paragraph 1 to show that the talks between union and hotel operators stalled
By Doyinsola Oladipo and Mrinmay Dey
NEW YORK, Sept 1 (Reuters) -Some 10,000 U.S. hotel workers began a multi-day strike in several cities on Sunday after contract talks with hotel operators Marriott International MAR.O, Hilton Worldwide HLT.N, and Hyatt Hotels H.N stalled, the Unite Here union said.
Unite Here, which represents workers in hotels, casinos, and airports across the United States and Canada, said thousands of workers at 24 hotels are on strike in some major travel destinations including San Francisco and San Diego in California, Hawaii's capital city Honolulu, Boston, Seattle, and Greenwich, Connecticut, with workers from additional cities ready to join the walkout as the Labor Day holiday weekend continues.
The strike is taking place with the industry facing a 9% increase in Labor Day weekend domestic travel compared to last year, according to AAA booking data.
"Strikes have also been authorized and could begin at any time" in Baltimore, New Haven, Oakland, and Providence, the union said in a statement, as hotel workers and operators struggle to agree on wages and on reversing pandemic-era job cuts.
Hotel workers are being stretched thin, according to the union, with management frequently assigning three staff members to do the job of four. This leads to undue stress and a focus on speed over service.
"Since COVID, they’re expecting us to give five-star service with three-star staff,” the union said, quoting a staff member at Marriott’s Palace Hotel in San Francisco.
Hotel housekeepers in Baltimore are fighting to bring wages up to $20 per hour from their current $16.20. In Boston, where housekeepers make $28 per hour, the union is seekinga $10 per hour raise by the end of four years.
Hilton and Hyatt said they remain committed to negotiating a fair agreement with the union.
Hyatt has contingency plans in place to minimize the impact on hotel operations related to potential strike activity, Michael D'Angelo, head of labor relations at the luxury hotel chain said in a statement.
Marriott did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The strike comes as 40,000 Unite Here hotel workers across 20 cities face expiring contracts this year. Negotiations for new four-year contracts have been taking place since May, and about 15,000 of those workers have authorized strikes in 12 markets.
"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 President Gwen Mills said, demanding a better deal.
The union has urged travelers to cancel their hotel stays if the workers are on strike, and to demand penalty-free refunds.
Unite Here workers in 2023 won record contracts in Los Angeles following rolling strikes, and in Detroit after a 47-day strike.
Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York and Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Chopra, Mark Potter, Bill Berkrot and Diane Craft
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務，允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容，但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限，並受以下條款與條例約束：（i）條款與條例；（ii）風險提示；（iii）完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊，僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意，我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成，也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料，僅適用於教育/資訊類用途，不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議，或是交易價格紀錄，或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容，包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接，皆爲‘按原狀’，並作爲一般市場評論所提供，而非投資建議。請理解和接受，所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容，並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性，而根據法律要求所編寫，而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊，相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。
