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America‘s labor unrest that started with Hollywood writers last year and reached auto workers checked into 25 hotels in nine cities across the country for Labor Day weekend.
While most of the 10,000 hotel workers who went on strike during the weekend returned to work today, as reported by CNN Business, a group of 700 union members in San Diego remain on strike.
They are employed at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront and will remain on strike until a contract agreement is reached, according to Unite Here. The hotel is open for business just as all hotels affected by worker strikes remained open during Labor Day weekend. Noisy picket lines and reduced staffing awaited hotel guests at Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott properties.
The strike is fueled by the fact that many hotel workers are paid less now than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic because of reduced hours and tips, although travel demand has returned to normal and hotel profits are up.
“During COVID, everyone suffered, but now the hotel industry is making record profits while workers and guests are left behind. Workers aren’t making enough to support their families, and many can no longer afford to live in the cities that they welcome guests to. 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 International President Gwen Mills said today in a statement.
Union workers seek the restoration of daily room cleaning services, which has inconvenienced guests and made housekeeping more difficult when rooms require more work. The union said the situation reduced housekeeping jobs by 39 percent since the pandemic.
The hotels affected by the strike told CNN they are committed to reaching fair deals for union members and ensuring guests are not inconvenienced.
Unite Here used a limited duration walk-out for the weekend’s strike, which was previously used for strikes at 64 hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties in July 2023. Limited duration strikes are new in the United States and have been used in Europe. Then rolling strikes were staged during busy travel periods in 2023, including when Taylor Swift scheduled concerts in Los Angeles. The union finally reached contract deals with the Southern California hotels in 2024.
Related stories:
Labor strikes: An American tradition makes a comeback in the 21st Century (augustafreepress.com)
UAW strike leads to layoffs of more than 2K GM and Stellantis auto workers (augustafreepress.com)
Labor unrest continues at Cornell University (augustafreepress.com)
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Rebecca Barnabi
