More Than 80 Arrested After Striking SF Hotel Workers March Through Downtown

More than 80 people were arrested Wednesday night after striking San Francisco hotel workers marched through downtown to demand their employers invest in staff and reverse pandemic-era service cuts.

Hotel workers and their allies held a sit-in on the Powell Street cable car tracks in front of the Westin St. Francis hotel. San Francisco police arrested 85 people for the demonstration, according to a spokesperson for the union representing the workers, Unite Here Local 2.

After more than a month on the picket line and with no deal in sight, workers said they felt they had to escalate.

“I think we need to make pressure on management and the big companies for them to see that we need our contract to be signed,” said Elena Duran, one of the striking workers on the cable car tracks.

Duran said she and the others on the tracks were prepared to face arrest, and police arrested them one by one, including Duran. Loud cheers erupted as each person was taken to a police bus parked around the corner.

More than 2,000 striking workers and their supporters took to the streets outside the Hilton San Francisco Union Square hotel on O’Farrell Street and marched to the Westin St. Francis, two locations where workers are on strike. Monday marked week six of the picket demanding wage increases and pensions that keep up with the cost of living and arguing that the service cuts have left them overworked when there are surges of guests.

The strike includes 2,000 housekeepers, servers, bartenders, cooks, dishwashers, bellhops, doormen and more at five Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott hotels around Union Square.

“When I was short-staffed on a shift and helping one guest, another guest’s bag was stolen right in front of the hotel,” said Jacov Awoke, a doorman at Hilton San Francisco Union Square for 35 years. “I’m on strike because I want my hotel to invest in the city and the workers.”

Unite Here said they offered during August negotiations to make their own compensation contingent on future hotel profits. They also offered to forgo most other guaranteed wage increases, but a deal with the hotels remains elusive.

Michael D’Angelo, head of labor relations for Hyatt in the Americas, said the hotel is waiting on the union to resume bargaining.

“We are disappointed that UNITE HERE Local 2 continues to strike while Hyatt remains willing to continue bargaining in good faith,” D’Angelo said in a statement.

Hilton and Marriott did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

San Francisco strikers aren’t alone: 2,000 Hilton workers in Honolulu have maintained a picket line for over a month, while hundreds of workers in Boston reached a tentative deal with Hilton on Tuesday after three weeks on strike.

In San Francisco, workers also ask their employers to take proactive measures to end the “doom loop” and bring foot traffic back to downtown. Additionally, workers are advocating for wage increases, better pensions and employee health benefits.

“Hotel workers love San Francisco and want to help our city recover,” said Lizzy Tapia, president of Unite Here Local 2.

The march began at the Hilton near Union Square at 4 p.m. The last time the city’s hotel workers joined the picket line was six years ago, a strike that lasted two months before workers ratified a new contract with Marriott hotels.

This story was updated at 9:30 p.m.