Unite Here Local 26 members employed by Omni Hotels march to the Park Plaza Hilton in support of workers there in this Oct. 20 photo.

Workers gain concessions due to hotels post Covid rebound

After weeks of picketing Boston area hotels, a group of more than 700 Hilton hotel workers last Thursday signed a contract with owners securing wage increases and improved health care and retirement benefits.

The new contract came on the heels of a similar strike against Omni hotels that ended the week before with a new contract.

The strikes came at a cost to the workers, who lost wages during weeks of picketing while collecting modest pay from the UNITE HERE Local 26 strike fund.

“I had to decide what bills to pay, whether to pay for day care,” said Mattapan resident Kevin Haynes, a cook at Hilton Boston Park Plaza. “It was rough.”

But the gambit paid off, Haynes said, as the Hilton owners acceded to their demands.

“I knew we’d win,” he said. “I saw people come together. There was unity among my co-workers.”

Boston UNITE HERE Local 26 members began a wave of strikes on Labor Day, joining hotel workers in states across the U.S. in actions aimed at winning pay increases and improved benefits for members, many of whom had not received new contracts in more than four years.

While the hotel industry has rebounded after the crippling shutdowns that happened during the COVID 19 pandemic, many hotel workers had to contend with inflation-fueled cost of living challenges and rising rents.

Carlos Aramayo, president of UNITE HERE Local 26, said tourism is currently the third biggest industry in Boston and that there are conventions booked here well into next year.

“The market for hotel rooms has been strong,” said Aramayo. “There’s been a strong rebound from COVID. It’s part of what drove our workers to vote for a strike. They could see that room occupancy rates were high. They understood the demands they were making were reasonable.”

UNITE HERE members at seven Marriot hotels on Friday reached a tentative agreement that would cover 700 workers. Members have not yet voted to ratify the agreement. At other hotels, including the Fairmount Copley Plaza, management have entered into so-called “me too” agreements with workers through which they will agree to the terms set in negotiations with other major hotels, including an hourly wage increase for non-tipped workers of $10 over four years.

Aramayo said workers at the remaining hotels are ready to continue striking and picketing in front of hotels.

“We’re in a very strong position,” he said. “The members are willing to do what it takes if they have to.”

Of the more than 4,500 hotel workers who are members of UNITE HERE Local 26, approximately 2,500 from 12 hotels have gone on strikes, ranging from three-day walkouts to open-ended actions in the last two months.

For the workers who won concessions, the new contract and return to work couldn’t have come sooner — the pay raise in particular.

“I’ll feel the effects right away,” Haynes said.