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Workers at 25 hotels in downtown Chicago went on strike Friday to seek health care throughout the year as they negotiated new contracts, marking the first strike of their union.
UNITE HERE Local 1, representing more than 15,000 hospitality sector employees in the Chicago area, said that thousands of housekeepers, doormen, cooks and other hotel staff had stopped working. They will picket 24 hours a day at the 25 hotels until an agreement is reached, said spokeswoman Sarah Lyons.
Affected hotels include Hyatt Regency, Sheraton Grand, JW Marriott and Hilton Chicago. A complete list is at chicagohotelstrike.org.
Collective agreements in 30 hotels expired on August 31 and the union began threatening a strike a few weeks earlier. There are 6,000 employees covered by the expired contracts, said Lyons.
Each hotel brand negotiates separately with the union.
Dozens of workers singing with pickets and noisemakers walked Friday morning in front of the Hilton Palmer House in the Loop, intoning the cars and trucks passing by. A woman stood in the center hitting a pot with a spatula.
A line of paperwork on the sidewalk separated the picketers from the entrance of the hotel, allowing guests to enter and exit relatively easily.
Tina Graham, who has been cleaning rooms at Palmer for 11 years, said employees were on strike for health insurance throughout the year. When the hotel slows down, usually from October to March, many employees are laid off and lose their health insurance until they return to work when the weather warms up, does it? she said.
"It's terrible, you can not go to a doctor and you suffer from discomfort by working here, cleaning 16 pieces a quarter," said Graham, 60. She has pulled out a carton containing her drug against Arthritis and cold / hot back plates, she said she underwent rotator cuff surgery because of repetitive labor movements.Causes are common as room attendants rush to have each room cleaned in a separate room. half an hour, she added.
"People are not aware of the stress," she said. Although Graham has enough seniority to continue working during the winter months, she says that at least 90 female house workers are fired each year.
Graham, who earns $ 20 an hour, says she likes her job differently. With many of his colleagues on the strike line, Graham said she was not sure how the hotel was behaving.
"I do not know how they make these rooms," she said, "but it must be rather ugly." The historic Palmer House has more than 1,600 rooms.
Paul Ades, senior vice president of labor relations at Hilton, said the strike would have "minimal impact" on operations. In addition to Palmer House, Hilton hotels, where workers are plagued, include the DoubleTree Magnificent Mile, the Hilton Chicago and the Drake Hotel.
"We continue to provide the service and amenities we are proud to offer our customers and customers every day," said Ades in a statement. "We are negotiating in good faith with the union and are confident that we will reach a fair deal for our valued team members and hotels."
Friday morning, at the Sheraton Grand Chicago, it was "all hands on the bridge," according to a leader.
Mark Lauer, general manager of the Sheraton Grand, declined to comment beyond a statement from the hotel's parent company, Marriott International.
Marriott's statement was aimed at strikers at six of its Chicago hotels, including Westin River North, Westin Michigan Avenue, W Chicago Lakeshore, W Chicago City Center, JW Marriott, and Sheraton.
"We are disappointed to learn that UNITE HERE Local 1 has chosen to resort to a strike right now," the company said. "There is nothing in the current state of negotiations or in the old and productive bargaining relationship between Marriott International and UNITE HERE, which suggests that a strike is warranted or necessary. The parties are not at a standstill on any issue.
The union is still making its initial trading proposal, and the hotel continues to be available to negotiate in good faith.
"In the meantime, our hotels are open and we are ready to provide excellent service to our customers," said the company's press release. "Although we respect the rights of our partners to participate in this work stoppage, we will also welcome any employee who chooses to continue working."
Hyatt said last week had completed its second bargaining meeting with the union, which had tabled multiple proposals for the first time. More sessions are planned for September.
"Our colleagues are at the heart of our business and we respect their right to express their opinions as bargaining with the union continues," said Michael D'Angelo, Vice President of Labor Relations for Canada. Americas at Hyatt. "Hyatt hotels plan to continue operations."
The strike comes in the middle of a busy summer for the Chicago hotel industry, which has seen an increase in visitors in recent years.
According to hotel data specialist STR, hotels in the Chicago business district posted sales of $ 1.45 billion from January to July, up 10.4% from the same period last year. Last year.
That same week, more than a dozen major hotel chains, including Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt, announced that they would provide personal safety features to all employees who deal individually with their customers. by 2020, to protect them. The announcement followed the adoption of panic button laws in a handful of cities, including Chicago, which, as of July 1, required all hotels in the city to provide panic buttons for housekeepers. This law was pushed by UNITE HERE Local 1.
Roushaunda Williams, 50, who worked as a bartender at the Palmer House for 18 years, said the energy on the first morning of the strike was "amazing."
"Everyone understands what is at stake and we believe that by being together we can nurture each other, we can reinforce each other to make sure the company hears our demands and gives us the respect we deserve," she said.
Robert Channick of Chicago Tribune contributed.
Twitter @alexiaer
Earlier: "There could be a strike at any time"
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