Hotel workers on strike chant and bang drums as they demonstrate outside the Fairmont Copley Plaza hotel in Boston on Sunday.

Rodrique Ngowi/AP

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Rodrique Ngowi/AP

Thousands of hotel workers have launched a multi-day strike in several US cities to demand higher wages and more staff after contract negotiations with major hotel chains Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott stalled.

Workers walked off the job Sunday in 25 cities, including San Francisco, Seattle, Greenwich, Conn., and Honolulu, said Unite Here, a union representing hospitality workers in North America. The strikes are expected to last two to three days, organizers said, noting that the walkout was scheduled to take place on Labor Day. Workers in Baltimore, New Haven, Conn., Oakland, Calif., and Providence, R.I., also agreed to join the strike.

Workers are demanding higher wages and more staff to ease their workloads. The union says the staffing and guest service cuts that many hotels made during the COVID-19 pandemic have never been restored.

The American Hotel And Lodging Association (AHLA), the trade association that represents major hotel operators, said 86% of its member hotels reported higher wages in the first half of this year. Average wages for hotel workers have increased 26% since the pandemic began, the group said.

Many hotel workers say their salaries do not cover the cost of living and they have to work multiple jobs to pay the bills.

“During COVID, everyone suffered, but now the hotel industry is making record profits while workers and guests are left behind,” said Gwen Mills, global president of Unite Here. “Many can no longer afford to live in the cities where they welcome guests, and painful workloads are breaking their bodies. We will not accept a ‘new normal’ in which hotel companies profit by reducing their guest offerings and neglecting their commitments to workers.”

AHLA says it is facing labor shortages and that occupancy levels have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. About 80% of hotels are reporting staffing shortages, while 50% cite housekeeping as their greatest need, the company said.

However, the hotel sector expects record high revenues this year, due to higher room rates and increased spending by guests.

According to the hotel group, average revenue per available room is expected to reach a record $101.84 in 2024.

Steven Hufana, a prep cook at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu, said a shortage of workers at his workplace has meant more work for him and his coworkers. He is one of at least 5,000 workers at seven hotels in Hawaii’s capital city who voted to authorize strikes.

“The workload is increasing and we have little to no support to actually deliver a good product for the guests,” he said.
“We often go home tired and overworked and can’t even enjoy life after work.”

Hufana, 41, said he was able to earn a living wage eight years ago when he was hired by the hotel. But his wages haven’t kept up with inflation, he said. He said he has family members in the hospitality industry who have left the island for the West Coast to earn a living wage.

He had worked multiple jobs in the past to make ends meet and said, “I’ve persevered to survive here, but I shouldn’t have to work this hard to stay here.”

Earlier this year, the union won major gains for hotel workers in Southern California after months of strikes that began last summer. Workers at 34 hotels won significant wage increases, increased employer contributions to pensions and fair workload guarantees.

Hyatt said in a statement that it is willing to negotiate with the union. “We look forward to continuing to negotiate fair contracts and recognize the contributions of Hyatt employees,” the hotel operator said. Marriott and Hilton did not immediately respond to NPR’s request for comment.

Tiffany Ten Eyck, a spokesperson for Unite Here, said negotiations will continue, but the two sides “remain far apart on the issues that matter most to hotel workers.”