Latest news: hoteliers demand job security and higher wages

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Marriott Hotel Workers Strike (Local Time):

11:45

The chain workers at the San Francisco Marriott Hotel say they demand job security and pay raises to be able to live in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the most expensive areas in the country.

Peter Chaffo, a banquet employee at the Palace Hotel, says it is striking to ask Marriott not to reduce the hours of work of the workers by half as he proposed.

Chaffo, 47, has been with the company for 27 years and makes an hour and a half commute from Concord, California. He earns nearly $ 26 an hour, but says the company's proposal is insulting to the workers who run the hotels.

The Marriott, based in Maryland, said in a statement that his proposal matches the "economic conditions" of the last contract and does not propose any change in benefit.

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8:20

Thousands of housekeepers, cooks and other Marriott hotel workers are on strike in San Francisco and San Jose after months of negotiations for a pay raise.

Ted Waechter, Unite Here spokesman for Union 2, said about 2,500 Marriott hotel workers were meeting Thursday in front of seven hotels in downtown San Francisco, one of the most touristy neighborhoods from the city.

Waechter says many union members must have at least a second job to make ends meet.

Hotel staff left Wednesday at seven Marriott hotels in Boston, which union organizers consider the city's first strike.

The Maryland-based company says its proposal matches the "economic conditions" of the last contract and does not propose any change in benefits.

The union says similar strikes are being planned in San Diego, Detroit, Seattle, Oakland and Honolulu.