On the Picket Line

SF hotel workers rally, say ‘One job should be enough’

By Joel Britton
October 1, 2018
Hotel workers, members of UNITE HERE Local 2, march in San Francisco Sept. 3 after contract with Marriott hotels expired. Many are forced to work two jobs to make ends meet.
Militant/Raul GonzalezHotel workers, members of UNITE HERE Local 2, march in San Francisco Sept. 3 after contract with Marriott hotels expired. Many are forced to work two jobs to make ends meet.

SAN FRANCISCO — Chanting “One job should be enough!” some 1,000 hotel workers, members of UNITE HERE Local 2, and their supporters marched here on Labor Day Sept. 3. Actions took place that day at Marriott-owned hotels in seven other U.S. cities where contracts have recently expired.

Many workers told the Militant  they had to work two jobs to make ends meet. Others said they could only pay their bills by working lots of extra hours.

“I’ve worked so much overtime I had little time for my family,” said Jose Alvarado, a Hyatt restaurant worker for 45 years. His co-worker, Salvador Aviles, told the Militant  that keeping his medical insurance and pension is his greatest concern.

“If workers can unite, all together we can make real change,” said Doshawntae Abernathy, a worker at the St. Regis Hotel, who was inspired by the protest.

“Marriott proposed a total dollar amount to be divided up between our medical benefits, pension and wages,” said a Local 2 flier issued after the action. That is “much less than our last contract.”

On Sept. 13 Local 2 members — cooks, servers, room cleaners, bellmen and others — from seven Marriott hotels here voted by 98.6 percent to authorize a strike.