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More Boston hotel workers are on strike, this time indefinitely
"The hotel is very busy all the time, they are making big money, but the workers are not getting any of it."
On Sunday, close to 600 hotel workers at the Hilton Boston Park Plaza and Hilton Boston Logan Airport began an open-ended strike, demanding higher wages and better working conditions.
The UNITE HERE Local 26’s strike impacts two of Boston’s busiest hotels. In a press release, the union said the strikers will not return to work until they reach an agreement with the hotel companies.
This is the second time union workers at these hotels have gone on strike. The first wave was a three-day strike over Labor Day weekend. Other union workers across the city have followed suit with multi-day strikes at Moxy Boston Downtown, W Boston, The Dagny Boston, Fairmont Copley Plaza, and more.
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The union had given hotel companies, including Hilton, Marriott, and Omni, a deadline of Oct. 4 to reach an agreement.
“Hotel workers are fed up with the disrespect from an industry that is netting billions in profits off their labor,” said Carlos Aramayo, President of UNITE HERE Local 26, in a statement. “Local 26 hotel workers love their jobs and take great pride in providing hospitality to guests. They would rather be at work.”
He continued, “Going on strike is not an easy decision, but the workers are ready to fight for a contract that will enable them to take care of their families and retire with dignity.”
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Striking workers include room attendants, front desk agents, telephone systems operators, doorpersons, bellhops, cashiers, cooks, dishwashers, banquet staff, and more.
Strikers will staff picket lines outside the hotel entrances 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The union says that since 99% of hotel workers voted to authorize a citywide strike at 36 Boston properties with contracts that expired on Aug. 31, workers at these locations could strike at any time.
“I am fighting for a raise because I currently have two jobs,” said Theresa Fiorino, an in-room dining cashier who has worked at the Hilton Boston Logan Airport hotel for 29 years. “Going on strike is going to hurt me financially, but I am willing to make that sacrifice together with my co-workers.”
Since April, the hotel workers’ union has been bargaining for a new contract standard that includes wage increases and sustainable workloads.
“The union has chosen to pull our Team Members out on strike and while we do not believe the union’s decision to strike is in the best interests of our Team Members, we respect their right to do so in a peaceful and lawful manner,” a spokesperson for Hilton said.
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Hilton says the union jobs are among the highest-paid in Boston’s hospitality industry. The employees receive regular pay increases, fully subsidized health insurance, generous vacation time, paid holidays, and a pension.
“While we disagree with many of the union’s current demands, we trust that we share the same goal, which is to negotiate toward a fair and reasonable agreement,” the spokesperson said.
However, union members say negotiations have made insufficient progress. Key demands remain unmet, and the raises proposed by the hotel companies, the union says, are not enough to offset cost-of-living increases.
“My rent has gone up by more than $1,000 a month in the last two years,” said Aissata Seck, a banquet server at the Hilton Boston Park Plaza hotel for 17 years, in a statement. “I’m driving Uber to pick up extra income so that I can pay my rent. The hotel is very busy all the time, they are making big money, but the workers are not getting any of it.”
UNITE HERE Local 26 represents workers in the hospitality industries of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
UNITE HERE Local 26 urges guests not to eat, meet, or sleep at any hotel during the strike.
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Hotels may have to suspend services while trying to operate with skeleton staffing. During earlier strikes, the union says, guests experienced disruptions, including long check-in lines, unavailable daily housekeeping, and towels and linens piled up in hallways.
Hilton says it is committed to providing continued hospitality to its guests and has contingency plans to ensure operations continue throughout the strikes.
Last week, hotel workers in Greenwich and New Haven, Connecticut, and Providence, Rhode Island, ratified new union contracts, including wage increases and affordable health care. All three properties had authorized strikes.
The strikes are part of a national movement by the UNITE HERE union. Over 4,000 hotel workers are on strike at mostly Hilton-owned properties in Honolulu, San Diego, and San Francisco.
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