Striking SF Hotel Workers Reach a Deal with Marriott

Workers at several Marriott hotels in San Francisco overwhelmingly ratified a new contract deal on Thursday night to end a monthslong strike, a hopeful sign for employees at other city hotel brands who remain at the picket line.

The four-year agreement with San Francisco’s largest hotel employer includes wage and pension increases, protections against understaffing and no additional health care benefit costs for about 2,000 employees at seven Marriott hotels, according to Anand Singh, lead negotiator for Unite Here Local 2.

“This is a home run on all fronts. It’s a fantastic deal, workers are elated,” Singh said. “To achieve that kind of contract in this market —in this economy at this time — is remarkable.”

San Francisco’s hospitality industry is struggling to fully rebound from the pandemic and perceptions of homelessness, drug use and crime on the streets. More visitors and convention business is expected next year, though not as much as in 2019.

Singh said the deal with Marriott sets a standard for Hilton and Hyatt, which operate hotels where about 1,000 workers remain at the picket line before the holidays.

“This makes it a very clear thing for those companies,” he said. “It’s now a binary choice for them. It’s up or down. There is a contract in this city. There is no negotiating below that contract.”

A Marriott spokesperson said in a statement only that the company is “pleased to have reached a new labor agreement for our valued associates in San Francisco.” This comes as thousands of hotel workers in Honolulu, San Diego and other cities who walked off the job in recent months have succeeded in signing contracts with similar worker demands.

Representatives with Hilton and Hyatt have said throughout the strike in San Francisco that the companies remain committed to negotiating fair contracts.

“Our colleagues are the heart of our business, and Hyatt has a long history of cooperation with the unions that represent our employees, including UNITE HERE Local 2,” Michael D’Angelo, Hyatt’s head of labor relations in the Americas, said in a statement. “We have offered competitive wages, health care and retirement benefits at the hotel, including an economic package that maintains no-cost health care for our colleagues, providing an alternative to the current health fund that is affected by escalating costs.”

At the Moscone Center on Thursday, Marriott employees who had voted to approve the contract deal congratulated each other. Fernando Martinez, a doorman at the Marriott Union Square for 31 years, was relieved he would start working and getting his paycheck again after about two months on strike.

“I’m very happy right now because I want to go back to work. I need money to pay the rent,” he said. “So I’ve been praying every night for this.”

Dawa Chokey, a 52-year-old housekeeping supervisor decked in a Santa hat, said she and other strikers danced and sang outside the hotel when they first got news of the resolution earlier in the day.

“It was very hard, but we fought for the benefits for us and our families and any new union members to come on board,” said Chokey, a Richmond resident who has worked at the Marriott Union Square for 27 years. “Finally, today is a victory.”

The strike began on Sept. 22 and grew to include 2,500 housekeepers, bellhops, bartenders and other workers at six downtown hotels run by Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt.

Several clients and convention organizers pulled their business from hotels where workers had walked off the job — or threatened to strike. The reputation of the hotel brands may suffer as guests face potential service disruptions, along with picketers banging on drums and chanting through megaphones outside the hotels every day.

John Logan, who chairs San Francisco State University’s labor and employment studies department, said the new contract with Marriott will likely put pressure on other hotel brands facing strikes to agree to a deal.

“The workers at the other hotels will not settle for a worse deal than the union has gotten at Marriott, so they will likely want to settle quickly so as not to suffer even more losses and disruption, especially with several big conventions coming up in the new year,” Logan said.