UPDATE: Sept. 2, 2025: A Hilton spokesperson told Hotel Dive, "Hilton Americas-Houston makes every effort to maintain a cooperative and productive relationship with Unite Here Local 23, which represents some of our Team Members and is committed to negotiating in good faith to reach a fair and reasonable agreement that is beneficial to both our valued Team Members and to our hotel. We do not anticipate any meaningful impact on our operations as a result of the activity."
Dive Brief:
- Union workers at Hilton Americas-Houston, the Texas city’s largest hotel by rooms, launched a nine-day strike on Labor Day, Sept. 1, according to a post from hospitality union Unite Here Local 23 on the social media platform X.
- The workers — who include housekeepers, cooks, laundry attendants, banquet servers and more — are calling for wages of at least $23 per hour. The union has been bargaining with hotel management since its previous contract expired June 30.
- Workers say their wages haven’t kept up with the rising cost of living. Other chapters of Unite Here argued the same in their own strikes, which launched Labor Day of last year.
Dive Insight:
Unite Here Local 23 said the strike is the first one hotel workers have held in Houston in the city’s recent history. In addition to advocating for wage increases, Houston hotel workers are fighting for “fair schedules, fair workloads and respect,” according to the union.
“For far too long, working people have had to struggle to make it, and the workers at the Hilton Americas-Houston are no exception,” said Franchesca Caraballo, Texas chapter president of Unite Here Local 23, in a statement. “Workers are on strike to send the message that they are not backing down in their demand for at least $23 an hour.”
Many of the hotel’s workers currently make $16.50 an hour, a Unite Here Local 23 spokesperson previously told Hotel Dive. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Calculator puts the living wage for an adult with no children in Houston at $21.65, and $36.52 for an adult with one child.
Some 99.3% of the hotel’s workers voted to approve the strike in August. The workers plan to end their strike on Sept. 10.
In addition to Hilton Americas, Unite Here Local 23 also represents hospitality workers at Houston’s Marriott Marquis, George R. Brown Convention Center and the George Bush International Airport, where union contracts will expire between Oct. 1 and Dec. 1, the union shared.
Last year on Labor Day, more than 10,000 hotel workers across the country walked off the job, also to advocate for higher wages. The majority of those workers were successful in netting wage increases in their next contracts.
Hilton did not immediately respond to a Hotel Dive request for comment.
