Hospitality workers mount Labor Day protest amid contract negotiations.
Hundreds rally at Westin St. Francis over contract talks
Hundreds of hospitality workers, union organizers and supportive demonstrators descended on the Westin St. Francis hotel in San Francisco on Monday to demand better pay and stronger job protections for employees of the Marriott International hotel group.
The Labor Day march came amid ongoing contract negotiations between the hotel giant and around 2,500 housekeepers, bartenders, cooks, doormen and other workers represented by Unite Here Local 2, the union that organized the rally.
The rally closed off Powell Street between Post and Geary in Union Square for more than 90 minutes as protesters marched and waved signs reading “One Job Should Be Enough.” Similar demonstrations by Marriott employees were held in eight cities across the country, the union said.
Local 2 also announced Monday that the union plans to hold a strike vote on Sept. 13.
Union leaders could call for a walkout at any time if the membership moves to strike.
Local 2 President Anand Singh said Monday morning that the workers’ contract with Marriott expired Aug. 14 and that the two sides are “nowhere near a settlement.”
Singh was among 75 people arrested Monday for sitting on the cable car tracks in the center of Powell Street in front of the Westin St. Francis.
District Eight Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and Kyle Smeallie, one of his legislative aides, were among those arrested, as was former Supervisor John Avalos. A San Francisco police officer at the scene said those who were arrested would be taken to jail, fingerprinted and then probably released after paying a fine.
In an email, Marriott spokesman Jeff Flaherty said the company respects its “associates’ right to voice their opinions.”
Marriott International, he added, has “longstanding and productive relationships with Unite Here and is negotiating in good faith and in a timely fashion to obtain the best outcomes for our associates and guests.”
“My paycheck for one job is not enough to afford my rent and bills,” Tammy Tam said as she took a brief respite from marching on the picket line. Tam said she’s been a housekeeper at Marriott’s luxury W Hotel for 13 years and has struggled to make ends meet.
“When my kids were growing up, I had to work so much overtime I didn’t get to spend enough time with them. I regret that,” she said. “It’s the biggest and richest hotel company in the world. They can afford it.”
In addition to as yet unspecified wage increases and improvements to employee health care plans, Singh said Local 2 is seeking to add a greater degree of flexibility to Marriott workers’ contracts, which would help protect workers against economic forces threatening their job security.
As an example, Singh said the hotel industry has broadly begun to reduce room service as guests increasingly rely on food deliveries from third-party, technologyenabled services such as Grubhub and Uber Eats. Hotels, in turn, are cutting back or eliminating room-service staff.
“If jobs are lost, we need to be able to negotiate what happens,” Singh said. Local 2 is seeking to add flexibility to its members’ contracts that could allow, for example, job training and placement services when positions are at risk of being eliminated.
Contracts covering an additional 5,500 employees working at more than 50 hotels across San Francisco not managed by Marriott have also expired. But Marriott’s status as the largest hotel employer in the city means it serves as a bellwether for contracts covering workers at other hotels.
“We’re challenging Marriott to set the standard, and we believe once we achieve a contract standard with Marriott, we would then need to go to the other hotel companies and tell them we need to sign the same deal,” Singh said.
“My paycheck for one job is not enough to afford my rent and bills.” Tammy Tam, housekeeper at Marriott’s luxury W Hotel