Unite Here, the union that represents hotel workers said "the labour dispute is ongoing" even as more than 9,500 members who struck Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott hotels in several US cities over the Labour Day weekend returned to work.
More than 10,000 hotel workers from nine cities, including Baltimore, Boston, Greenwich, Honolulu, Kauai, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle, went on strike over the weekend, Xinhua news agency reported.
Among the key demands of the striking workers are higher wages, more staffing to ease their workload, and the reinstatement of service cuts during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The limited duration strikes, following months of unresolved negotiations, have lasted one to three days in each city, said the union in a news statement, adding that strikes have also been authorized and could begin at any time in Baltimore, New Haven, Oakland, and Providence.
"Continued picketing and other disruptions are possible," the union noted.
The news statement said that nearly 700 hotel workers at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront have decided to continue on an indefinite strike, and workers will continue to picket until they win their contract.
The labour union, Unite Here, explained on its website that it represents 300,000 working people across Canada and the US.
The union added its members work in the hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, transportation, and airport industries.
"During Covid, everyone suffered, but now the hotel industry is making record profits while workers and guests are left behind. While workers aren't earning enough to sustain their families, many can no longer afford to live in the cities that they welcome guests to," stated Gwen Mills, International President of Unite Here in the news statement. "Too many hotels still haven't restored staffing or the services that guests deserve, like automatic daily housekeeping and room service, and painful workloads are breaking workers' bodies.".
"We won't accept a 'new normal' where hotel companies profit by cutting their offerings to guests and abandoning their commitments to workers," Mills said.
Room rates are at an all-time high, with the US hotel industry raking in more than $100 billion in gross operating profit last year. But hotel staffing per occupied room was down 13 percent from 2019 to 2022, as many hotels maintained Covid-era cuts - that include understaffing, ending automatic daily housekeeping, and removing food and beverage options - according to the union.
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