Boston's hotel workers' strike has now doubled in size. Nearly 700 workers form the Omni's Parker House and Seaport locations walked off the job Monday, joining 600 more from the Hilton family of hotels.
The workers were on the picket line all day, standing in the cold rain to send Omni hotels a message. And their guests are hearing it loud and clear. You could hear the sound of hotel workers blowing their horns and banging their drums from the Omni Parker House downtown all the way to the Seaport location.
“We’re fighting for better conditions, for safety, and yeah that’s what we’re all doing here. Making some noise -- haha," said Yuri Yep, a restaurant server at the Omni Parker House downtown.
"It was very annoying, about 6:30 this morning," said Jana Allen, a hotel guest from Seattle, Washington. "I sympathize with the workers. I think corporations make a lot more money than they should, and there needs to be more passed downward."
Workers at both Omni properties had walked off the job for three days from Sept. 19-21, but this time they say they won't return to work until they reach an agreement with Omni Hotels & Resorts. The striking workers include room attendants, house persons, front desk agents, telephone operators, doorpersons, bellhops, cooks, dishwashers, banquet staff, barbacks and more.
“The contract we have now is the same as a year ago, and now everything is expensive," said Sanda Gucman, a housekeeper at the Omni Parker House.
"Cost of living is going up, energy is going up, groceries are going up, and our wages are not increasing," Yep added. "We're out here as long as it takes and we're not going back until we get a contract."
"We're actually gonna stay here until, like, we're gonna win," said Enver Beganovic, a coordinator at the Omni Seaport.
Hilton hotel workers had walked off the job more than a week ago.
Since April, the hotel workers’ union says it has been bargaining for a new contract standard with significant wage increases and sustainable workloads. Workers say progress has been slow throughout negotiations.
