SAN FRANCISCO — After 93 days on the picket line, UNITE HERE Local 2 union members at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square voted Dec. 24 to ratify a new contract by 99.4%, ending the longest hotel strike in the local’s history.
After 2,500 workers struck six hotels at three chains here, 12 now have new contracts — seven at Marriott, three at Hyatt and two at Hilton hotels. The union says it will demand that San Francisco’s other full-service hotels accept the standard set by the new contracts.
Workers successfully defended the unique health plan they had previously won, financed by the hotels but jointly administered with the union. They also won a $3 an hour wage increase for non-tipped employees, with $3.50 more through 2028; kept retiree health care; increased monthly pension benefits; and strengthened their ability to fight workload violations.
Marriott was the first of the three hotel chains to reach an agreement, breaking ranks Dec. 14 to return to the bargaining table. Workers there voted to approve the new contract Dec. 19, after 89 days on strike.
In front of the Grand Hyatt on Union Square that same night, Marriott workers joined the picket line. “Going through this together, we’ve gotten really close here on night shift,” Juvy Castro, a worker in the hotel’s cafe, told the Militant.
Two days later, Hyatt caved. Workers approved the new contract unanimously.
Hilton was the last to fall. On Dec. 20, the Militant counted 18 unionists playing drums in front of the hotel, as dozens of strikers danced and chanted, “One day longer!” Two days before Christmas, the California Nurses Association brought a hot dinner for all the pickets. Later that day Hilton threw in the towel. Workers then approved the new contract.
Pickets had gone up here Sept. 22 for 24 hours a day. The number of hotels struck gradually increased as workers voted to strike. The union organized several downtown marches of over 1,000 workers to show their unity.
The last mass march was on Dec. 11, three days before Marriott returned to the negotiating table. “Don’t gut our health care!” was its theme. From the beginning the chains wanted to get rid of the union’s health plan of zero payments per month, or $10 to cover a family. When the hotels were forced to back off, they instead pushed for a two-tier plan, with an inferior plan for new hires. But union members held firm.
For Fe Cruz, a lobby housekeeper at Marriott’s Westin St. Francis, keeping the health care plan was essential. “After 25 years as a housekeeper, I’ve had five surgeries for carpal tunnel, and without my health care I wouldn’t have been able to afford them,” she told the press.
“Now the managers are learning a lesson about how strong we are,” Carol Bungay, a phone operator who has worked at the Hyatt for decades, told the Militant. “When we go back we’ll be in a better position to stand up to them, to oppose assignments outside of our job.”
The negotiating committee included dozens of union members in addition to the lead negotiators. In the end, John Elrod, a bartender at the Hilton who was on the negotiating committee, said, “It’s a really good contract.”
“Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott workers refused to give up their health care or go backwards — and we proved on the picket line that we’re not afraid of a tough fight,” Lizzy Tapia, president of UNITE HERE Local 2, said in a statement.
The union printed a flyer to spread the news of the victory to workers at all the hotels in the area. “The bosses thought this was their time,” it says. “All their goals, especially to get out of our Local 2 Trust Fund and roll-back medical benefits, lie in ruins. Our unwavering, immovable Strikers, Union Committee/Picket Captains and City-Wide Negotiators deserve all the credit. Let’s Roll On! to sign the rest of the hotels! Contract Now!”
Betsey Stone contributed to this article.