| San Francisco hotel workers and UNITE HERE Local 2 union members have begun striking at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco Union Square for “painful workloads and wages” and affordable health care, the union announced in a press release on Sunday. Housekeepers, bellhops, cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders, and other various jobs are included in the protests. The union is comprised of hotel workers at different companies, including Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and Omni. The strike comes three days after Salesforce’s Dreamforce 2024 conference. Strikers, however, decided not to protest during the conference. Lizzy Tapia, the President of the UNITE HERE Local 2 said, “Salesforce made a commitment to keep Dreamforce in San Francisco for three more years. They stepped up and did the right thing, so we did too. ” “San Francisco can’t recover without a strong hotel industry, and the hotels can’t recover unless we’re cleaning the rooms, cooking the meals, and helping travelers with their bags. We need the hotels to make our jobs sustainable so we can keep doing that work,” said Tapia. Jin Ling Xie, a housekeeper at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square for a decade, says their reason for joining the strike is needing two jobs to support their family. “I love my job, and going on strike wasn’t an easy decision, but it’s what I have to do for my family,” Xie said. “My job at the Hilton isn’t enough to pay all the bills, so I’m always worried about the family budget. My kids are in high school, and I don’t know how I will pay for their college. Things are hard right now, but I know that when we fight together, we can win a better future.” |
