Dive Brief:
- Union workers employed by Hilton’s Embassy Suites Pioneer Square hotel in Seattle will hold a vote on June 5 to authorize a strike, amid their push for higher wages and other workplace protections, according to a press release obtained by Hotel Dive from hospitality union Unite Here Local 8.
- The decision comes after the Embassy Suites’ union contract expired on May 31, per the release. On June 1, union leaders at the hotel delivered a petition to the property’s management indicating that a supermajority of workers pledged to vote yes to a strike. There are approximately 113 union members employed at the hotel, 83 of which are full-time, the union confirmed to Hotel Dive.
- If the workers authorize a strike, the union could call one at any time, including during World Cup games in the city, according to the release. Embassy Suites Pioneer Square is located next to Lumen Field, where several FIFA World Cup matches will be held starting this month. Worker strikes during the international soccer event have been a major concern for hotels leading up to the tournament.
Dive Insight:
The Embassy Suites workers are seeking a new union contract that includes fair wages, according to the release. Over the last five years, the hotel has offered its employees unsatisfactory raises that have averaged less than $1 per year, the union detailed.
“Housing, bills, groceries — everything costs more,” Stiliano Hibroj, an Embassy Suites banquet houseman, said in a statement. “The raises the hotel is offering are ridiculous.”
Elsewhere in Seattle, Hilton previously agreed to $2.25 annual raises on average over four years after workers walked out at the Seatac Doubletree, the release said.
The Embassy Suites workers are demanding that their new contract also includes year-round healthcare coverage, a return to pre-pandemic staffing levels and protections from U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers, per the release.
According to Unite Here Local 8, the hotel’s management has rejected a request from workers asking the hotel to notify them when it knows ICE agents or other Department of Homeland Security personnel are on property.
Workers at the Embassy Suites hotel have already held several informational pickets in front of the property, per the release.
In a statement shared with Hotel Dive, a Hilton spokesperson said the company makes “every effort to maintain a cooperative and productive relationship with the union that represents some of our Team Members at Embassy Suites by Hilton Seattle Downtown Pioneer Square, and we remain committed to negotiating in good faith to reach a fair and reasonable agreement that benefits both our valued Team Members and our hotel.”
Nationwide, hotel contract negotiations are underway in other World Cup host cities, according to a June 2 Unite Here release. In Philadelphia, contracts remain expired at multiple Center City hotels, and workers are prepared to strike during the games if settlements are not reached, the union said.
Meanwhile in New York City, the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council ratified a historic wage contract with the Hotel Association of New York last month, averting previously anticipated hotel strikes across the city during the World Cup.
