Nearly 900 unionized workers at four Boston hotels, including Hilton Park Plaza, Hilton Logan Airport, Hilton-Hampton Inn Boston Seaport, and Fairmont Copley Plaza, began a strike at 5 a.m. on Sunday. Workers from Unite Here Local 26 are demanding higher wages, better staffing, and the reversal of COVID-era cuts that have increased workloads for current employees.
The union had announced last week that more than 4,000 workers would go on strike across 35 hotels in Boston on September 1 if a contract proposed in April was not signed after unsuccessful negotiations. The workers on strike include room attendants, front desk agents, restaurant servers, cooks, bartenders, and banquet workers.
Alfredo Armado, a 26-year employee at Fairmont Copley Plaza, expressed his frustration over stagnant wages in the past decade, stating that hotel workers deserve better pay. Despite the financial challenges they may face during the strike, workers like Armado are fighting for a better future.
Unite Here Local 26 has a history of successful strikes in Massachusetts, including a 22-day strike at Harvard in 2016, a 46-day strike at Marriott hotels in 2018, and a 79-day strike at the Battery Wharf hotel in 2019. The Hilton, Marriott, Omni, and Fairmont Copley Plaza hotels have not responded to requests for comment on the strike.
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