SAN FRANCISCO — Hundreds of UNITE HERE Local 2 members at the Palace and Marriott Union Square hotels here have joined the strike launched a month earlier at three other hotels. Some 2,000 workers are now picketing and chanting. Their signs read, “All day, all night – Local 2 knows how to fight!” “Respect our work!” and “Make them pay!”
“It makes no sense that the hotel chains are making billions and we are struggling,” Miguel Marquez, a banquet server at Marriott’s Palace Hotel, told the Militant Oct. 20. “We are striking so that the hotel owners can see the strength of the union.
“The Palace is a luxury hotel,” he said. “Room rates have skyrocketed but wages have not kept pace with the rising cost of living.”
“Our wages are down because tips were a big part of our income,” Renato Manalang, a striking bellman at the Westin St. Francis on Union Square, said. “Many people don’t carry cash anymore.”
Another big issue for many strikers is defending their medical insurance. The hotel bosses are demanding that they pay hundreds of dollars more each month.