The walkout affected hotels in Hawaii, Seattle, Boston, Greenwich, Connecticut, San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco|@UniteHereLocal8|X
More than 10,000 hospitality workers walked off their jobs across the country over Labor Day weekend to demand better pay and conditions.
The walkout comes when the holiday weekend is in full swing. The strike resulted from failed contract negotiations between the Unite Here workers union and hotels.
The workers are mainly from Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott properties.
Unite Here claims its members are overworked and underpaid after the pandemic forced staff and service cuts—in some cases as much as 40%—that were not restored.
Several people have taken up side jobs due to the rapid rise in living costs in the past five years.
The walkout affected hotels in Hawaii, Seattle, Boston, Greenwich, Connecticut, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco.
The union, representing over 275,000 workers, including housekeepers, front-desk clerks, bartenders, doormen and bellhops, is threatening to expand the strike to 65 hotels in 12 different cities.
A spokesperson for Hilton said the company is committed to negotiating “fair and reasonable agreements.” It is unclear whether the talks will resume.
The work stoppage is set to end on Tuesday. Meanwhile, hotels are using skeleton staff to provide basic services.
Last year, over 15,000 United Here members in LA and Southern California were on strike during the Fourth of July holiday weekend.