The union representing 3,000 workers at Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt hotels in San Francisco may strike next week to pressure the chains after nearly two months of negotiations failed to produce a new contract.
Unite Here Local 2 president Lizzie Tapia said the vote to authorize the strike by union members concluded Friday with 94 percent support from voters. The union could not say how many workers voted. Authorizing a strike does not guarantee there will be a work stoppage.
The union of housekeepers, cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders and hotel workers said it has been negotiating since June to raise wages and pensions, add protections against what it calls overwork and keep health insurance costs for workers low.
The report said contracts expire on Aug. 14 at Hilton Union Square, Park 55, Marriott Marquis, Marriott Union Square, Marriott-owned Palace Hotel, Grand Hyatt Union Square, Hyatt Regency Embarcadero and Westin St. Francis.
The last major strike by San Francisco hotel union members was in October 2018, when about 2,500 Marriott workers picketed outside downtown hotels during the city’s peak convention season.
“We are voting to strike because we need all these increases,” said Rose Sia, who said she has been a union member for about 43 years. “Everything costs more abroad and we can’t afford it.”
Sia said her daily job is to make sure the Hyatt’s four floors are in good condition after the housekeeper cleans them. He recently said he was tasked with checking more floors when his hotel was short-staffed.
“I’m not getting any younger,” Sia said. “My body hurts, my feet hurt. I walk a lot at work and sometimes we don’t have enough staff, so they give us extra floors.”
Sia said she hopes the new contract will lead the employer to hire more workers and ease the burden on existing employees.
According to Tapia, many hotels have stopped cleaning rooms daily and limited access to gyms and pools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hotels have also reduced their staffing levels, but left existing workers with more to do, he said.
Tapia also said that not cleaning rooms every day doesn’t relieve staff of work. Instead, it leaves housekeepers with days of mess that are difficult to clean up.
The three hotel chains did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the mandate vote, the potential strike or hospitality workers’ concerns about their workplaces.
“My colleagues are very prepared,” Sia said. “We have to show Hyatt that we are united and ready to fight.”
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