Nearly three dozen Boston hotels could face unpleasant visits due to staff shortages as early as this weekend if thousands of hotel workers go on strike over unsuccessful collective bargaining negotiations.
About 4,500 workers who are members of the UNITE HERE Local 26 union are preparing to strike at 35 hotels after months of tough collective bargaining with hotel companies. The workers are seeking higher wages to keep up with inflation and pandemic staffing shortages that they say have resulted in fewer workers doing more work.
“If nothing changes, I think there will be significant disruption in the hospitality industry in the fall,” Carlos Aramayo, president of UNITE HERE Local 26, told State House News Service on Wednesday.
The strikes could begin at any time and at any hotel after existing contracts expire on Aug. 31 if negotiations fail, including with major companies such as Marriott, Hilton and Omni Hotels, Aramayo said. The hotels affected could include the Fairmont Copley Plaza, the Westin Copley Place, the Omni Parker House and the Hilton Boston Park Plaza, among others.
“The people who work in the industry are in a really difficult situation because they are not getting their fair share of the extraordinary gains that the hotel industry is making after COVID,” Aramayo said, adding that he is not currently optimistic that strikes can be avoided.
“We've had discussions with some of the very big players in the city that would set a standard for a contract,” Aramayo continued. “We're still very, very divided on the core issues that are important to our members.”
According to the union, a strike at Marriott hotels in 2018 lasted 46 days, while a strike at the Battery Wharf Hotel in 2019 lasted 79 days.
Local 26 members use the 32BJ SEIU office in downtown Boston to sign up for strike pay and picket duty and to make picket signs.
Meet Boston, formerly known as the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, declined to answer questions from State House News Service about the potential strike and its impact on the city's restaurant industry. David O'Donnell, vice president of strategic communications, said Meet Boston is “monitoring this situation” but does not comment on labor issues.
Union member William Brown, 25, said he has worked as a janitor at the Omni Boston Seaport for two years, helping housekeepers take out trash and do laundry. Brown said his hourly wage of $28.15 is not enough to keep up with inflation and provide for his four-year-old daughter.
“We're basically living paycheck to paycheck,” says Brown, a Dorchester resident. “It's not terrible, but it's not enough for me to save money. It's not enough for me to look forward to buying a house in the future or really save money to send my daughter to college.”
Union members have not been involved in major contract negotiations in six years, a Local 26 spokesman said. To help recover from the pandemic, the union agreed in 2022 to extend existing contracts for two more years, meaning workers have received only “nominal” wage increases – but not the larger increases that workers say they need to keep up with rising living costs, the spokesman said.
Local 26 members voted this month for a citywide strike whose potential scope the union has described as “historic.” Members include maids, housekeepers, front desk employees, restaurant servers, cooks, dishwashers, bartenders and banquet staff.
A strike could affect visitors attending conventions and staying in hotels near the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and the Hynes Convention Center, as well as families helping their children move to college, the Local 26 spokesman said.
Susana Coelho, a telephone operator who handles administrative duties at the Hilton Boston Logan Airport, said a strike is likely given the current state of labor negotiations. There are about 180 union members at the hotel.
“I know it could take a long time and we are aware of that. And even though we don't want to, these companies are forcing us to do it – they are forcing us to do it and we are ready,” said Coelho, 39. “We deserve it.”
Coelho said she has worked at the hotel for 21 years and many of her coworkers work multiple jobs to make ends meet. Coelho, who lives in East Boston, said a pay raise would allow her to start saving money again, help her 21-year-old daughter with college and cover rising food costs.
“I got the job at the Hilton because, back then, a union job meant you were middle class, you could buy a house and support your family,” Coelho said, reflecting on what the job meant to her at age 18. “It was a very prestigious job.”
She added: “We are paving the way for the future generation of kids who want to have a union job, a stable job. Because I haven't felt like that in six years.”
Coelho said she also wants to negotiate a new contract that would provide severance pay for workers in the event of layoffs, maintain health insurance coverage and put more money into pensions.
At Omni Boston Seaport, 450 union members could join the impending strike.
“Many people have reached a point where they feel like they have no choice but to strike and get what they've fought for because they have no other choice given the circumstances of their lives,” Brown said.
In addition to salary issues, Brown said employees are also struggling with staff shortages. A 1,000-room hotel typically has about 130 housekeepers, while the Omni Boston Seaport only has about 80 housekeepers, he said.
“A lot of people have had to sign off on workers' compensation because of physical pain,” Brown said. “I've seen a lot of that in the two years I've been there.”
