Over 2,000 Hilton employees have been on strike since Monday, Oct. 23, fighting for better wages and more hours. Gerritt Vincent, a bellman who has been working at the Hilton for over nine years, states that although Hilton has agreed to a contract for higher pay, it has not yet agreed to a contract that guarantees its workers more hours.
Vincent explains that since the pandemic, Hilton has refused to give about 20% of their workers back the hours they previously held before COVID. Vincent, in particular, gets about two days of work per week despite being on call for five days. This essentially means that he is missing out on a consistent source of income while still being expected to be ready and available at any given time during those five weeks. Before COVID, Vincent had full and normal five-day and eight-hour shifts.
“There is no other reason for them to cut staffing except for the fact that they want more money for themselves,” Vincent states. “They continue to overcharge guests, resort charges, parking is close to 80 dollars overnight. All of that money going to them, none of it going back to the guests’ experience, or back to the employers. So we’re here to fight as a union, it’s a working class versus corporate greed.”
The protestors don’t stop any cars from entering and exiting, staying on the sidewalks as cars pass through, but will continue to walk back and forth after the cars have safely proceeded.
“We are trying to be peaceful,” Vincent explains.
However, the protestors have found it frustrating, as due to Hilton’s continuation to not tell their guests about the strikes, the company has also decided to employ many “scab” workers from outside, who are being paid five to six dollars more than the people who are striking are even asking for.
“If you look at pictures of the room service they do, it’s awful,” Vincent says. “More people need to bring awareness to this and have it be known.”
Vincent also explains how, as for wages, they just want a livable wage that goes up as inflation has.
For many, this fight has been longer than the one-week strike. For housekeepers, in particular, it’s been years of working towards better wages for the work they provide. At Hilton, the pay for cleaning a one-bedroom compared to a two-bedroom is the exact same despite the workload being almost double. So many are stuck doing twice as much work for the same pay and are now bringing these issues up again in unison with the other employees on strike.
Overall, the protest consists of housekeepers, maintenance workers, bartenders, servers, bellmen, valets, and everyone who runs the hotel who just feels they are treated unfairly.
Vincent also states that anyone who wants to support them should go to the UniteHereLocal5 website and social media accounts, as any support and awareness are appreciated. Overall, the workers are disappointed with Hilton’s treatment and hope to bring systematic changes.
“We feel very used,” Vincent summarizes.
