CHICAGO—Hundreds of hotel workers walked off the job at six Chicago hotels last week, launching what could become the largest hotel worker strike in the city’s history.
The strike began Oct. 9, just days before the Chicago Marathon drew an estimated 55,000 runners and 1.7 million spectators to town. Workers at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk, Waldorf Astoria Chicago, Palmer House (a Hilton Hotel), the Westin Chicago River North, Westin Michigan Avenue, and Millennium Hotel Knickerbocker remain on the picket line.
UNITE HERE Local 1 represents approximately 7,000 room attendants, cooks, dishwashers, front desk agents, servers, and other hospitality workers at 46 hotels who have been without a contract since their contract expired Aug. 31. The union has warned that workers at additional hotels could strike at any moment.
The workers are seeking wage increases that keep pace with inflation, improved healthcare and pension benefits, stronger protections for immigrant workers, and safer, more sustainable workloads—particularly for housekeepers facing severe physical strain from their job.
Many of the workers on strike are immigrants themselves, under fire from the reactionary political climate stoked by MAGA forces. Protections for immigrant workers are among the union’s core demands.
Eighty-five percent of affected workers voted last month to authorize a strike after negotiations stalled. As People’s Worldpreviously reported, the strike authorization vote passed overwhelmingly in early September.
UNITE HERE Local 1 President Karen Kent said workers are frustrated after three months of bargaining produced no deal. She noted that wages have not kept up with inflation while workloads have intensified.
“Tourism in Chicago is booming, all while inflation is increasing, and it’s affecting our hotel workers across the industry,” Kent said in a union statement.
“They feel the weight anytime they go to the supermarket to buy food, or when they come home from work and are too tired to spend time with their family,” she continued. “Workers are ready to strike because they work too hard to live like this.”
The hospitality industry’s success has not translated into financial security for the people who clean its rooms, prepare its meals, and welcome its guests, the union said.
Chicago’s last major hotel worker strike involved 26 hotels and helped workers secure year-round health coverage. This time, with 46 hotels in negotiations and six already on strike, the stakes are even higher. The workers on the picket line remain in high spirits and ready to continue their struggle until they get what they deserve.
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