NEWS FLASH
CHICAGO (CHICAGO URBAN DAILY)— Hundreds of hotel workers walked off the job Friday morning at six of downtown Chicago’s biggest hotels, throwing picket lines up right in front of the city’s biggest tourism weekend of the fall: the Chicago Marathon.
The strike, called by UNITE HERE Local 1, hit the Millennium Hotel Knickerbocker Chicago, the Palmer House Hilton, the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk, the Waldorf Astoria Chicago, the Westin Chicago River North, and the Westin Michigan Avenue Chicago. Room attendants, cooks, dishwashers, bell staff, front desk agents, servers, and bartenders all joined the walkout after contract talks collapsed.
This is just the opening shot. More than 7,000 workers across 46 hotels voted last month — by an 85% margin — to authorize a strike after contracts expired August 31. Local 1 President Karen Kent says workers at any of the remaining properties “could be on strike at any moment,” and the union has warned as many as 40 more hotels could join the line.
The demands are straightforward: better wages, stronger health care and pension benefits, civil rights protections, and safer workloads. The union notes Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt have returned billions to shareholders in recent years — and says the workers who make the guests’ stays possible haven’t seen their share.
The timing is no accident. The walkout landed two days before the 48th Chicago Marathon, when tens of thousands of runners and spectators flood the city and hotels like the Sheraton Grand sell out completely. Union leaders know exactly the leverage a packed city gives them.
As of Monday morning, the union has announced no end date. The hotels say they plan to keep operating, but marathon-weekend guests should expect thinner service.
Stay tuned to Chicago Urban Daily for updates as this labor fight develops.
Reported by Chicago Urban Daily News. Visit chicagourbandailynews.com for updates.
