Strike down to 4 hotels after 3 contracts reached

Striking hotel workers from two Chicago Hyatt locations and the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza agreed to new contracts on Thursday, bringing the number of downtown hotels affected by the monthlong work stoppage down to four.

“After four weeks on strike, I’m proud to have a contract that guarantees health care in the wintertime,” Hyatt Regency Chicago employee Demetrius Jackson said in a statement provided by Unite Here Local 1. “The workers of the hotels still on strike deserve the same.”

Year-round health care has been the union’s main sticking point in negotiations since contracts expired at the end of August.

Last weekend, Hyatt’s labor relations

vice president Michael D’Angelo accused Unite Here representatives of “moving backwards in their positions” as negotiations hit a wall, but he lauded the new fiveyear deal on Thursday.

“Hyatt remained committed to arrive at terms that were fair for all parties,” D’Angelo said. “Under the new collective bargaining agreement, Hyatt continues to offer our colleagues competitive wages and benefits, including comprehensive healthcare coverage with enhanced benefits, eligible winter month coverage and no premium increases.

Unite Here has now reached contracts with 22 of the 26 hotels where close to 6,000 housekeepers, doormen, cooks and servers hit the picket line the week of Sept. 7.

Disclosure notice: Some labor organizations have ownership stakes in Sun-Times Media, including Service Employees International Union, Local No. 1.