Over 5,000 Hawaii hotel workers strike in Waikiki and Kauai over
Labor Day weekend
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—September 1, 2024
HONOLULU, HI – As of 4 a.m., over 5,000 Hawai‘i hotel workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 5 are on a limited duration 3-day strike over Labor Day weekend. Thousands of other UNITE HERE workers in five U.S. cities also called strikes earlier this morning. This is the largest strike of Hawai‘i hotel workers since 1990 and includes nearly twice as many workers as the 2018 strike of Kyo-ya workers that lasted 51 days.
This strike comes days after Gallup reported American approval of labor unions is near record highs, according to their annual survey released Wednesday. The same day, the Treasury Department released the first-of-its-kind report on the benefits of unions to the U.S. economy and the role they play in addressing longstanding challenged face by the middle-class including stagnant wages and high housing costs.
Workers say that after months of contract negotiations with their employers–Hilton, Hyatt, Kyo-ya, and Marriott–they are far from agreeing to solutions to the top concerns they have raised including wages that keep up with inflation and the cost of living, proper staffing and fair workloads, and the reversal of COVID-era cuts in guest services.
The strike impacts seven hotels in Waikiki and one on Kaua‘i: the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort, Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort & Spa, Moana Surfrider – a Westin Resort Spa, The Royal Hawaiian, A Luxury Collection Resort, Sheraton Princess Kaiulani, Sheraton Waikiki, Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, and the Sheraton Kauai Resort.
“I am on strike because our employers keep offering excuses, instead of solutions, to the issues making it harder and harder to do our jobs. It doesn’t matter how many times my coworkers and I tell our employer that as much as we take pride in our jobs, we cannot do our jobs without the necessary supplies and adequate staff,” said Kenziro Kloulubak, Housekeeper at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. “It’s sad that it has come to this and that it takes us going on strike for our employers to respect the work we put in to make them record breaking profits.”
Since 2019, the U.S. hotel industry’s gross operating profit increased by 26.63%, while hotel staffing decreased by 13%. In Hawai‘i, the average daily rate of a hotel room increased 33% and the Revenue per Available Room has increased 23% since 2019.
According to a recent survey of nearly 3,500 Local 5 workers, 73% of respondents said they have had to make excuses for the company when guests complain. In another survey of nearly 4,000 Local 5 workers, 78% of respondents said they believe their employers took advantage of the pandemic to cut payroll and make changes not beneficial to workers.
“We have not seen this many of our members go on strike in over 30 years, and we don’t take that fact lightly. Today’s action at eight of our Hawai‘i hotels affecting more than 5,000 Local 5 members employed by Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott & Kyo-ya show that the issues we’re striking over are not just isolated to one hotel or company. Today’s action demonstrates our deep commitment to these islands we all call home, to our guests who deserve nothing less than to experience our ‘aloha’ so they keep coming back, and to our families – we need tourism to work for us locals and not just our mainland bosses,” said Cade Watanabe, Financial-Secretary Treasurer. “Hawai‘i’s hospitality industry is in crisis – not because of workers or the pandemic that ended more than two years ago or even the changing demographic of our guests – we’re in crisis because of the lack of respect and care our offshore hotel owners and mainland companies have for all of us.”
“We remain committed to bargaining in good faith, but as hospitality workers, we’ve been more than flexible and understanding with our employers. We’re tired of being taken for granted as our hotel owners and operators cheapen our brand and undermine the value of our work, it’s time our bosses step-up and do right by the people of Hawai‘i,” Watanabe adds.
UNITE HERE hotel workers across the U.S. are calling for higher wages, fair staffing and workloads, and protection for the work associated with providing guest services and amenities. Hotel workers are also on strike in Boston, Greenwich, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle with strikes possible in Baltimore, New Haven, Oakland, Providence, and San Diego.. Last year, UNITE HERE members won record contracts after rolling strikes at Los Angeles hotels and a 47-day strike at Detroit casinos.
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About UNITE HERE Local 5
Local 5 represents 10,000 workers throughout Hawaii who work in the hospitality, health care and food service industries and is an affiliate of UNITE HERE, an international union that represents over 250,000 workers throughout the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit www.unitehere5.org.
