Boston hotel strike moves Labor Day event outside so guests don't cross picket line
BOSTON - More than 10,000 hotel workers are on strike across the country, including Boston, in protests that are expected to last until Tuesday.
The Greater Boston Labor Council's Labor Day breakfast, which is usually held inside the Boston Park Plaza, was moved outside Monday morning to Statler Park, so guests could attend and not cross the picket line.
The Boston Park Plaza is one of four hotels in the city where workers have gone on a three-day strike looking for more money, automatic daily room cleaning and the return of jobs cut during the pandemic.
"Labor Day is the celebration of the victories of the working people in this country. Whether that is the 8-hour day or health and safety at work. These folks who are on strike today, these hard-working hotel workers, they are out there fighting that fight," said President of UNITE HERE Local 26 Carlos Armayo.
Boston hotels strike
Workers at the Hilton Boston Park Plaza, Hilton Logan Airport, Fairmont Copley Plaza, and Hilton-Hampton Inn Boston Seaport all went on strike after their contracts expired on Saturday, August 31. More than 900 workers have walked off the job, including housekeepers, room attendants, front desk workers, doormen, cooks and dishwashers.
"Everybody here needs respect, and we need to get paid better," said Odner Fanfan, a bellman at the Park Plaza.
"This country has been built on movement, on elevation, on fighting. We are looking for respect," said Jean Desima, a waiter at the hotel.
"We want the world to know, the country to know that workers are on the rise. Things are shifting. We are not going to take it anymore," said President of the Great Boston Labor Council Darlene Lombos.
Why are hotel workers striking?
Members of Boston union said they're overworked and underpaid.
"One of the signs people are holding up says, 'One job should be enough.' That's what these folks are fighting for. They want to be able to come to work, work hard, work a good day's work, and earn real pay," Armayo told WBZ-TV.
Hotel executives at the Hilton, Marriot, and Hyatt made $596 million from 2020 to 2023, according to the union. They also say that despite the U.S. hotel industry making more than $100 billion in profits since 2022, the COVID-era job cuts are still in place.
In statements to CBS News, representatives from Hyatt and Hilton both said they look forward to continuing negotiations with those union workers. Marriott did not respond to a request for comment.
The hotels have remained open, but services may be limited or modified. If a deal isn't reached soon, there could be more strikes at more hotels.
Labor Day breakfast
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley were all guests at the annual Labor Day breakfast.
"Giant corporations and radical courts are trying to squash workers' efforts to unionize. We need laws to make it easier to form a union and to strengthen your right to walk out and make your voices heard on the picket line," Warren said.