BOSTON – Workers at four Boston Hilton Hotels will return to work on Friday after ratifying a new contract.
Who was on strike?
The four hotels on strike included Hilton Boston Logan Airport, Hilton Boston Park Plaza, DoubleTree Hilton Boston-Cambridge, and Hampton Inn & Homewood Suites Boston Seaport.
The strikes came to a stop on Tuesday, October 29 after the union, Unite Here Local 26 had reached a tentative deal. The contract was ratified on Thursday.
The Union said that the new contract has the “same standard of wages and benefits set by Omni Hotels & Resorts,” and will increase wages by $10 over four years for non-tipped workers, improving hiring and severance language and healthcare benefits.
“The wage increase that the workers will be getting is going to make a tangible difference in their everyday lives. We appreciate that Hilton took our demands seriously and has made this commitment to take care of their employees,” President of Unite Here Local 26 Carlos Aramayo said in a statement.
“We got everything we asked for. Everything is so expensive now. With this new contract, I will have more money for rent, for food, and for my children,” room attendant at Hilton Boston Logan Airport Ana Gomez said in a statement.
Employees such as room attendants, front desk agents, banquet workers, dishwashers, and cooks will return to work starting at 4 a.m. on Friday.
Boston hotels on strike
Several Boston hotels have been on strike since their contracts expired on August 31. The strikes lasted three days at a time until a deal was not reached by the Union’s deadline of October 4. Around 600 workers at The Boston Park Plaza and Hilton Boston Logan Airport then began continuously striking on October 6.
Omni Hotels & Resorts joined the strikes starting on October 15 and reached a deal five days later.
The Union said that more than 20 Boston hotels still have no contract.
“We are hopeful that the other hotel companies will follow the examples set by Omni and Hilton,” Aramayo said in a statement.