In the United States, 24 major hotel chain giants are facing a strike crisis as room attendants demand higher wages

As of September 2, 2024, according to the Associated Press, 24 major hotel chain giants in the United States are facing a strike crisis. Fatima Ahmoud, who works at the Moxy Hotel in downtown Boston, has to clean many rooms per shift and is under great work pressure. Room attendants who have joined the union are demanding the restoration of automatic daily room cleaning services in major hotel chains. They believe that the current workload is difficult to handle and their incomes have decreased.

About 10,000 hotel employees went on strike on Sunday at 24 hotels in eight cities. Employees in other cities may also join in the next few days as contract negotiations have reached a stalemate in raising wages and reversing service and staff cuts. Hotels such as Hyatt and Hilton have responded. Some have said they have contingency plans, and some have said they are committed to sincere negotiations.

This labor unrest highlights the lasting impact of the pandemic on low-wage women, especially black and Hispanic women. There are about 1.9 million employees in the U.S. hotel industry, about 196,000 fewer than in 2019. Nearly 90% of room attendants are women. Union president Gwen Mills views contract negotiations as a fight for reasonable pay for service industry employees.

The union hopes to build on its success in Southern California, where employees have won significant pay raises and other results. The American Hotel & Lodging Association said hotels are trying to attract employees and 86% of hotel operators have raised wages, but employees believe the actual situation is complex. For example, Maria Mata in San Francisco has unstable working hours, and Nelly Renante in Honolulu faces problems caused by guests refusing room service.

Experts from Cornell University said that the union is facing an uphill battle on the issue of daily room cleaning. Employees are dissatisfied with work schedules and low wages, and there are large wage differences between different cities. Chandra Anderson in Baltimore hopes to get a pay raise, and the local union is also fighting for the rights and interests of employees. In short, this strike reflects the strong demands of hotel employees for working conditions and treatment.