BOSTON — On Labor Day, hundreds of hotel workers across Boston were off the job and holding out in a strike that is expected to last until Tuesday if a deal isn’t struck with the hotels.
Workers demanded better wages and benefits across the board at the Fairmont Copley Square, Park Plaza, Hilton Logan Airport and Seaport after their contracts expired Sunday at midnight.
“Labor Day is really a day to celebrate the victories of working people and I really think our members being on strike and the fight that they’re in now is carrying on that legacy,” Unite Here Local 26 President Carlos Aramayo told Boston 25.
Aramayo oversaw a rally outside the Park Plaza Monday where well-known politicians like Maura Healey showed their support after the plaza’s Labor Day breakfast was moved outside because of the strike …
“If there’s a strike at a property our request is to go elsewhere,” Aramayo explained. “Our slogan is don’t check in, check out.”
Hotel employees of all kinds plan to hold out from work until Wednesday morning. Aramayo saysthis could be the first wave of many strikes in a busy fall season if the hotel industry doesn’t meet them at the bargaining table.
“Tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of visitors coming in and out of our city over the next two or three months,” the union president detailed. “That’s why we want to get a contract done.”
“Whatever it takes we need to make it happen,” said a striking Hilton Seaport worker, Nina. “We can barely afford stuff like rent grocery stores and stuff.”
Hilton told Boston 25 News they plan to negotiate in good faith with the union. Boston 25 has not heard back from Omni and Marriot.
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