Hotel employees strike for more money

Around 10,000 employees in the US hotel industry went on strike for more money and better conditions on the extended travel weekend on Labor Day. According to the union Unite Here, 24 hotels in eight cities have been on strike since Sunday – including Boston, Seattle and San Francisco. The hotel chains affected include Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt.

Many of the employees had to work two jobs at the same time to make ends meet, Unite Here said. One salary was not enough to cover living expenses. Months of negotiations with the employers had not produced any results, the union criticized.

The industrial action is expected to continue until today

Mary Taboniar, who works as a cleaner at a Hilton hotel on the holiday island of Hawaii, said, according to the union, that she lives at subsistence level and is never sure if she will be able to pay for rent, living expenses or her family’s health care. She therefore has to take on a second job, the single mother said in a statement from Unite Here.