Hundreds of striking hotel workers on Wednesday marched through downtown San Francisco to demand new contracts from their employers.
They want five San Francisco hotels that employ them to start negotiating with them for a new contract, which the union says hasn’t happened yet since they went on strike in late September.
The workers include servers, bartenders, housekeepers and bellhops who work at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco, Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Marriott Union Square, Palace Hotel and Westin St. Francis.
The workers are calling on the hotels to "Bet on SF" by restaffing the hotels from the pandemic lows and restoring guest services. The workers' union says that in return for this investment, they are willing to hold on guaranteed wage increases and tie their compensation to hotel profits.
"When you have one person working the job that three people used to work, the guest is going to notice that," said Lizzy Tapia, president of Unite Here Local 2. "For example, if you have a doorman who is trying to hail a taxi for someone over here and give directions to someone over there and answer a question for someone else, people’s bags get stolen. That’s one of the stories we’ve heard recently from a doorman, is that while he was helping one guest, another guest’s bag was stolen. So things like that will make people have a bad experience when there’s only one person working. It’s not possible for them to give the level of service our guests deserve.”
Hilton released a statement in response to the strike:
"Hilton makes every effort to maintain a cooperative and productive relationship with the unions that represent some of our team members. We remain committed to negotiating in good faith to reach a fair and reasonable agreement that is beneficial to both our valued team members and to our hotel."
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In September, a Hyatt spokesperson told NBC Bay Area that the company was disappointed that the union had decided to strike.
"We have a history of offering competitive wages and benefits in the market, including comprehensive health care at little to no cost, as well as retirement savings," the spokesperson said.
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The union said that during Wednesday's strike, around 85 striking hotel workers and supporters were arrested for blocking traffic on the cable car tracks on Powell Street.
