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BOSTON (WHDH) - Organizers of Boston’s annual Labor Day breakfast promised “no breakfast-as-usual” Monday as local hotel workers entered their second day on strike.
After union members spent the morning picketing and helping prepare for a unique outdoor event, Sen. Elizabeth Warren was among a list of local leaders pledging their support during the breakfast’s speaking program.
“I walked with you in 2018 at the Westin Copley,” Warren told union members, referencing a previous strike six years ago. “And I will walk the picket line with you again today because one job should be enough.”
Nearly 900 workers at the Hilton Park Plaza, Hilton Logan Airport, Hilton-Hampton Inn Boston Seaport, and the Fairmont Copley Plaza took to picket lines Sunday.
The striking hotel workers are members of the UNITE HERE Local 26 union. Together, the workers have called for higher wages, an end to staffing and service cuts, and more manageable workloads.
“We are striking because the company doesn’t respect us,” said Odner Fanfan, a Park Plaza bellman on Monday.
“It’s amazing, because I see everybody is fighting for what they deserve,” Fanfan continued.
The workers on strike include room attendants, doormen, front desk agents, dishwashers, and other employees. The ongoing strike comes after months of contract negotiations before the workers’ previous contract expired on Saturday.
UNITE HERE Local 26 detailed its contract requests in a statement. Among other issues, the union said hotels have kept pandemic-era service and staffing cuts in place, costing some workers their jobs and creating “painful working conditions” under an increased workload for those left behind.
“Hotel executives are making unprecedented millions while workers right here in Boston struggle with the basics,” said Greater Boston Labor Council President Darlene Lombos. “…We are going to bring attention to the changes that are needed in the hotel industry, and frankly, so many other industries, where workers continue to be paid far too little as executive compensation goes up and up.”
Strike prompts schedule change for Labor Day breakfast
Soon after local workers began their strike, the Greater Boston Labor Council announced it would move this year’s Labor Day breakfast out of the breakfast’s traditional home in the Park Plaza hotel.
The 2024 Labor Day breakfast instead happened across the street, sprawling across nearby Columbus Avenue and Statler Park.
Though they announced the change of plans on short notice, organizers with the Greater Boston Labor Council said they had already secured permits for an outdoor option ahead of time, in case UNITE HERE Local 26 moved forward with a strike.
“Multiple options were considered but ultimately organizers landed on what they felt would call the most attention to the needs and stories of the hotel workers – staging the breakfast directly across from one of the hotels where workers are now on strike,” the labor council said.
Monday’s breakfast was drew local leaders including Warren, Sen. Ed Markey, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Gov. Maura Healey, and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
In addition to the hotel workers’ strike, breakfast organizers noted a pair of planned rallies for newly-unionized medical residents seeking their first contract with the Massachusetts General Brigham health care system and for service workers hoping to regain their jobs at 100 Sudbury, a luxury apartment building in downtown Boston.
The Labor Day breakfast’s speaking program began near 9 a.m.
The rallies for Massachusetts General Brigham residents and 100 Sudbury workers were scheduled to take place later Monday morning.
Arriving at the breakfast, Wu said she supports the striking hotel workers and values their efforts to welcome tourists to the city of Boston.
“When [tourists] come to Boston, the very first experience they have is staying at one of these beautiful hotels and getting the workers here to take care of their needs,” Wu said. “That sense of hospitality is at the foundation of who we are as a city.”
Healey took to social media shortly before the breakfast, writing in a post on X that she would be standing in solidarity with UNITE HERE Local 26.
“[I]n Massachusetts, Labor Day isn’t a day we take off – it’s a day we take action,” she said.
Local actions part of national demonstrations
While Americans observe Labor Day, local workers are joining a crowd of more than 10,000 hotel staffers across the country currently on strike.
CNN reported strikes affected 24 hotels in the US on Sunday, including the four hotels in Boston. Strikes are hitting Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott facilities and span from Boston to Honolulu and Kauai in Hawaii. Though hotels are open, they are running with limited staff.
With some strikes underway, the national arm of UNITE HERE has threatened to expand its actions to include up to 65 hotels in 12 cities.
CNN on Sunday said a spokesperson for Hyatt said the company is committed to reaching new contract agreements with UNITE HERE.
A Hilton spokesperson in a statement directly to 7NEWS said Hilton “makes every effort to maintain a cooperative and productive relationship with UNITE HERE Local 26.”
“We remain committed to negotiating in good faith to reach fair and reasonable agreements that are beneficial to both our valued Team Members and to our hotels,” the spokesperson continued.
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