SAN FRANCISCO — More than 500 workers walked off the job at the Marriott Marquis downtown here Nov. 24, bringing to six the number of hotels now on strike. Some 2,500 UNITE HERE Local 2 members are walking the picket lines, demanding wages that keep pace with inflation, the reversal of staff cuts and a stop to bosses’ plans to charge hundreds more each month for health care.
“The company has to be ready to negotiate in good faith, because we are ready to go for Thanksgiving. We are ready to go for Christmas, ready to go for New Year’s. Whatever it takes until we get a fair contract and they meet our demands,” striker Carlos Santamaria told ABC TV News.
Hundreds of strikers marked the 60th day of the expanding walkout Nov. 20 by marching through the downtown area, despite a cold, drenching rainstorm.
Following the march, workers at two more hotels, the W and the St. Regis, voted by 90% to authorize strike action. This means workers are ready to strike at eight more hotels, including two in the East Bay.
Negotiations the week before with bosses representing the Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton chains, the first since the start of the strike on Labor Day, ended badly. The bosses refuse to address workers’ concerns. They want to start new hires on a second-tier health plan. Under the current plan, workers don’t have anything deducted for their own health coverage, and only $10 monthly for their family.
Hotel occupancy here is slowly recovering from a slump in tourism during the COVID-19 crisis, rising to 70% this past September. The bosses are pushing to make workers pay for their crisis.