Will L.A.'s hotel strike come to San Francisco?
Will L.As hotel strike come to San Francisco?
L.A.s massive hotel strike continued into its third day with legions of union service workers demanding higher wages and more hires to help them. Some wonder if this strike will spread to the Bay Area. The local UNITE HERE union says San Francisco hotel workers face two key issues.
SAN FRANCISCO - Los Angeles' massive hotel strike continued into its third day with legions of union service workers demanding higher wages and more hires to help them.
Some are wondering if this labor strike could spread to the Bay Area. The local "UNITE HERE" union says San Francisco hotel workers face two key issues.
First, wages are not keeping pace with inflation. Second, workloads have increased because hotels are maintaining reduced COVID staffing levels, and few new workers are looking for jobs.
The union says a dozen contracts expire this year, including the BEI Hotel, where workers have not gotten a raise in five years. All union hotels, including SF's biggest hotels, have contracts that will expire in summer 2024.
That includes Hilton Union Square, Marriott Marquis and many more. The last time Marriott had a strike, it was across a large part of the nation and it lasted over two months, but that was back in 2018 – in 2023, a lot more hotel brands would be involved.
"Next summer is likely to bring a big fight in SF if bosses take the same approach as in LA," said the union.
In L.A., one striker said that the strike has to be affecting guests. "If the people that make the food, clean the rooms... if they're all here, I wonder what it's looking like in there," said the unnamed worker.
But two guests seemed somewhat unfazed. "It's kinda loud, that's all. I mean we can hear them but its like noise passing by under our window. We're alright," they said.
FILE-A waiter sets up breakfast in a hotel suite. (John Gress/Corbis via Getty Images)
But the union insists the strike has put it on a winning path.
"The Westin Bonaventure Hotel, the largest hotel in LA, settles. Right. And gave the workers what they were looking for. So if the Westin Bonaventure can do the right thing, these other hotels need to step up and follow their lead," said a union member.
Employment lawyer Michael Bernick, a former Director of the state Employment Development Department, says the number of strikes in the first four months of this year is about the same as last year. But the difference is the number of workers involved is much increased.
"Last year, in the first four months, it was 66,000 workers involved. This year, for the first four years, we have 180,000," said Bernick.
Even those hotel workers who have gotten raises over the past few years make a good point. "A lot of these previous gains are now being undercut by inflation and that's pushing forward in some of the labor actions," said Bernick.