San Jose, San Francisco hotel workers join national Labor Day weekend strike
SAN JOSE — Housekeeping, bellhop greetings and shuttle services slowed to a crawl Sunday at hotels here and across the country as an estimated 40,000 staff members participated in a three-day strike over stalled contract negotiations.
Collectively, the picket lines rang out a sentiment that has been echoed through various industries since the COVID-19 pandemic began — that short staffing is fueling burnout among employees without enough salary and benefits to compensate for it.
The workers, represented by regional chapters of the national union UNITE HERE, joined the collective strike even though their bargaining situations differ. Each hotel staff negotiates separately with corporate management.
They marched in picket lines, banged drums and chanted slogans demanding better contracts at Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and Omni hotels across the country.
In San Jose, picketing began around 5 a.m., Sunday for more than 100 workers near the DoubleTree and Signia, a pair of Hilton locations. Most, primarily Spanish speakers, alternated between slogans in their native language and English.
Contracts also expired June 30 for two other San Jose hotels, the downtown Marriott and another Hilton nearby, but the workers did not immediately join the strike.
“We’re not fighting our managers; we’re fighting the corporations — they’re the ones making the decisions,” Ana Rodriguez, a San Jose resident who’s worked in housekeeping for 23 years, told this news organization near the Signia hotel picket line.
In San Francisco, about 2,000 employees went on strike at the city airport’s Grand Hyatt, the Grand Hyatt Union Square and the Hilton Union Square, along with two Marriott locations: the Westin St. Francis and Palace Hotel, union representatives said. Workers’ contracts there expired Aug. 14.
More demonstrations could be on the way: Union members at the Oakland Marriott City Center and Hyatt House Emeryville have authorized strikes but did not join this weekend’s rallies.
UNITE HERE officials have declined to elaborate on specific details of contract discussions at any individual hotel. But some hang-ups are common across the board, said Local 2 spokesperson Ted Waechter.
“A key issue is reversing COVID-era staffing cuts and ending automatic daily housekeeping,” Waechter said Sunday in an interview. “If there are fewer rooms to clean each day, hotels are cutting hours for housekeeping staff.”
“There’s also a workload issue for rooms that have gone multiple days without a cleaning, because they’re dirtier,” Waechter added.
In interviews, the workers in San Jose said they generally have good relationships with managers. The problem, said 71-year-old Mahendra Gandhi of San Jose, is that “the company doesn’t want to put one penny on the table.”
Dolores Dominguez and her husband both work two jobs for the same employers — in banquet services at the DoubleTree in San Jose and at Levi’s Stadium.
The pair immigrated to the city 30 years ago from Durango, Mexico, and have had trouble supporting their 11-year-old and 16-year-old children.
“You need the money to pay your mortgage, so you don’t get to take care of your children,” Dolores Dominguez said in an interview. “The companies have the tools to give you more salary.”
UNITE HERE said they hope to return to the bargaining table with corporate representatives when the three-day strike concludes. Federal law protects the workers from being fired.
The rallies at both San Jose hotels were too loud to hold regular conversations, but one family of guests standing outside the DoubleTree weren’t bothered.
Their more pressing concern: seeking an Uber to a wedding taking place at another local hotel, because the DoubleTree’s shuttle service had stalled due to the strike.
Glancing up from his phone, Dave Arviso, who traveled from Ventura with his wife and child, said the strike had led to an unintended perk — the hotel’s remaining workers treated them to a free breakfast because they were too busy that morning to charge them.
“It’s kind of nice, actually,” Arviso said of the strike’s impacts. “But no housekeeping — that’s a bit tough.”