Thousands Of U.S. Hotel Workers Are On Strike

Thousands of hotel workers around the country walked off the job Sunday amid labor disputes with several major hotel chains.

The union Unite Here said the strikes hit 25 hotels in eight cities: Boston; Greenwich, Connecticut; Honolulu and Kauai, Hawaii; San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose, California; and Seattle.

Around 10,000 workers are involved in the walkouts, according to the union.

The strikes are scheduled to last between two and three days, likely impacting many travelers’ Labor Day plans. The union said workers could also strike in Baltimore; New Haven, Connecticut; Oakland, California; and Providence, Rhode Island.

As HuffPost previously reported, the workers are trying to bargain new contracts with Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott and Omni, pushing for significant raises, lighter workloads and job protections.

Unite Here led a series of unpredictable, rolling strikes at hotels in Los Angeles last year and may continue that strategy as it bargains new agreements in other regions. Roughly 15,000 workers in a dozen cities have voted to authorize strikes.

Mary Taboniar, a housekeeper at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu, said in a statement through the union that she was “living on the edge” trying to make ends meet.

“I have to work a second job because my job at the hotel is not enough to support my kids as a single mom,” Taboniar said.

Hyatt’s head of labor relations told HuffPost earlier this week that its employees were “the heart of our business” and it would continue to “negotiate fair contracts.”

The union is maintaining a list of struck hotels here.