Dive Brief:
- Protesters were seen holding picket signs to advocate for better wages outside of a Hilton hotel in Phoenix on Friday, according to Arizona’s 12News.
- The picketing at Hilton Resort at the Peaks was the latest demonstration in a series of actions held in Arizona by members of Unite Here Local 11, the nation’s largest hospitality worker union. Earlier this summer, Local 11-represented workers held protests outside of the Sheraton Phoenix, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and the Tempe Mission Palms, according to posts on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
- Unite Here Local 11 also represents the workers currently on strike across Southern California. Though the Arizona workers aren’t striking at the moment, their protests concern the same issue: wages not keeping up with the rising cost of living.
Dive Insight:
Unite Here Local 11 workers in California first walked out in July after contracts with Los Angeles-area hotels expired on June 30.
Meanwhile, contract negotiations are still underway for Unite Here Local 11 in Arizona, where the union represents more than 2,000 workers in hotels, restaurants, airport concessions and in-flight catering, according to its website.
Hotel workers in the region — like their fellow union members in California — say they don’t make enough to live on.
“Sheraton Phoenix workers are now negotiating for a fair contract and currently don’t make enough to provide for their families,” read a release from July, advising Blackstone Group investors about labor issues at Blackstone-owned hotels. “Many housekeepers make only $17 per hour.”
In the 12News report, Jose Cruz, one of the protesters outside the Hilton Resort at the Peaks, said: “After the pandemic, a lot of people could not survive on the money they give to us.”
Unite Here did not respond to Hotel Dive’s queries about the contract negotiation timeline in Arizona.
Arizona workers received more positive news at the summer’s start when Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes reinforced the rights of cities, towns and counties to improve wages within their borders, according to Mayes’ office.
