HOUSTON — After nine days on strike, 400 workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 23 who work at Hilton Americas-Houston here have extended their walkout through Sept. 20. The extension was announced as over 150 strikers and their supporters attended a public meeting of the Houston City Council Sept. 9. Seven strikers addressed the gathering, and after each one all the other strikers chanted ¡Sí, se puede!
The strikers described the conditions they face on the job. “We helped the hotel make over $3 billion in revenue last year,” Amber White, a Hilton worker and mother of three girls, told the meeting. “My wages aren’t enough to feed my family. I sacrifice eating so my kids can eat. We’re the oil and grease that make the hotel run.”
Rosa León has worked in housekeeping for 21 years. “I came to the hotel empty-handed and will have to leave empty-handed when I retire,” she said. “There is no retirement plan. I don’t want younger workers to go through what I have gone through.”
Cook Marcella Zaleta said she has to work three jobs to try to provide for her family. “I work 16 hours a day and even with no days off I don’t have enough money to survive.”
Willy Gonzalez, UNITE HERE Local 23 secretary-treasurer, told the City Council members, “The workers are seeking a $23 hourly minimum wage — a raise from the current base rate of $16.50. Management so far has offered an immediate $1 raise to $17.50, followed by a 75-cent increase in January” and some smaller raises later on.
“No one can deny that the hotel is extremely profitable,” he added. “But it’s the people who have made that hotel a success. That hotel was built with public money, that hotel was entrusted to do right by the people of Houston, and it has betrayed these people.”
This is the first hotel strike in Texas history. The strikers need solidarity! Join the picket line, which is up from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.
Send messages and donations to UNITE HERE Local 23, 2506 Sutherland St., Houston, TX 77023, or go to the strikers’ GoFundMe page, “Support Hilton Americas Workers’ Fight for a Fair Contract!”