Dive Brief:
- Hotel workers at Marriott International properties St. Regis San Francisco and W San Francisco voted by 90% to authorize strikes, hospitality union Unite Here said Thursday in an announcement obtained by Hotel Dive.
- Authorization means the workers could strike at any time. There are already 2,000 Hilton, Hyatt Hotels and Marriott workers in San Francisco who have been on strike for more than 60 days, according to the union.
- San Francisco has seen its labor disputes drag on longer than those in other cities, many of which have already been resolved with new contracts that raise wages for workers.
Dive Insight:
Contracts for workers at the St. Regis and W properties in San Francisco expired on Aug. 14. Employees who voted to approve strikes include housekeepers, cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders, bellmen and more, the union shared.
In October, 85 striking hotel workers and their supporters were arrested during a “non-violent civil disobedience” that took place at a protest “calling on hotels to settle contracts and end weekslong hotel strikes,” according to Unite Here. The protesters were blocking traffic as part of a sit-in near San Francisco’s Union Square, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
During negotiations in August, hotel workers offered to forgo most guaranteed wage increases if hotels agreed to “take proactive measures to boost San Francisco’s recovery,” such as reopening restaurants, staffing more doormen, eliminating resort fees and reversing service cuts, Unite Here said.
Downtown San Francisco hotels have seen their value drop in recent years. Workers are on strike at Hilton San Francisco Union Square, which is part of a hotel complex whose value has dipped by $1 billion, according to Trepp.
Meanwhile, Unite Here-represented workers elsewhere in California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut have won contracts with higher wages following strikes.
Marriott did not immediately respond to a Hotel Dive request for comment.
