Over 2,000 SF Hotel Workers Went on Strike Over Labor Day Weekend

By Ted Waechter

Images via UNITE HERE Local 2 in San francisco

Approx. 2,080 San Francisco and San Mateo hotel workers went on strike and demonstrated over Labor Day weekend for better wages and workloads.  In San Francisco, workers marched at four downtown hotels — the Hilton Union Square, Palace Hotel, Westin St. Francis, and Grand Hyatt San Francisco — as well as the Grand Hyatt at SFO.

Grand Hyatt, Union Square San Francisco.

Hotel workers including housekeepers, bellhops, doormen, cooks, dishwashers, servers, and bartenders walked off the job on Sunday, Sept. 1, at the Grand Hyatt SFO, Grand Hyatt Union Square, Hilton Union Square, Palace Hotel, and the Westin St. Francis. The workers are members of the UNITE HERE Local 2 union, and they say they are protesting painful workloads and wages that aren’t enough to afford the cost of living.

The three-day strike ended on Tuesday night this week. It follows months of contract negotiations and the expiration of the previous contract on August 14, 2024. Hotel workers remain on strike in San Diego. Workers in Baltimore; Boston; Greenwich, Conn.; Honolulu; Kauai; San Jose; and Seattle ended their strikes after the long weekend.

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“We don’t want hotels to become the next airline industry – where guests pay more and get less while workers are left behind”

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“I’m on strike for a living wage,” said Oz Munguia, a dispatcher at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square for 23 years. “Before COVID, there were 8 to 10 people in my shift, and now there are only 4 of us. If I’m working this hard with a heavier workload, I deserve to be able to afford my bills and groceries. I’m going to fight until we get what we need.”

“Hotel workers are fighting for their economic lives,” said Liz Tapia, President of Unite Here Local 2. “Wages just aren’t enough to support our families, and service and staffing cuts have made hotel jobs more painful than ever. We don’t want hotels to become the next airline industry – where guests pay more and get less while workers are left behind. Workers are fed up with the hotels, and we’re on strike to make them pay.”

Workers across the U.S. are calling for higher wages, fair staffing and workloads, and protections for work associated with providing guest services and amenities. Many workers report working two or even three jobs because current pay is not enough to support their families. The union says that too many hotels took advantage of the pandemic by cutting staffing and suspending guest services that were never restored, causing workers to lose jobs and income – and creating painful working conditions for those who carry the increased workload.

The US hotel industry made over $100 billion in gross profit in 2022, and hotel executives at Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott made $596 million in total between 2020 and 2023. Meanwhile, U.S. hotel staffing per occupied room was down 13% from 2019 to 2022 as many hotels nationwide have kept COVID-era service cuts in place, including understaffing, ending automatic daily housekeeping, removing food and beverage options, and more.

Our march & picket lines are bursting with energy! 😎 Local 2 hotel workers are out here
fighting for what we deserve at Hyatt, Hilton, and Marriott hotels. Good raises, fair workloads, and RESPECT. pic.twitter.com/hbQxMOvtnt

— UNITE HERE Local 2 (@UniteHereL2) September 3, 2024

UNITE HERE Local 2 is the hospitality workers’ union in the San Francisco Bay Area, representing over 15,000 workers, at San Francisco International Airport, Oakland International Airport, and hotels, restaurants, tech cafeterias, sports stadiums, and more.