- Chicago hotel workers strike over contract.
- Dispute affects 7,000 workers at 46 hotels.
- Union warns more hotels could join the strike.
WORKERS AT SIX Chicago hotels went on strike Oct. 9 as visitors arrived for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, held Oct. 11. UNITE HERE Local 1 said workers at more hotels could strike as well.
The union is seeking higher wages, pensions, healthcare benefits, civil rights protections and safer workloads, NBC Chicago reported. It said negotiations failed to produce agreements that meet its members’ demands.
The strike affects the Millennium Hotel Knickerbocker Chicago, Palmer House Hilton, Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk, Waldorf Astoria Chicago, The Westin Chicago River North and The Westin Michigan Avenue Chicago. Strikers include room attendants, cooks, dishwashers, bellmen, front desk staff and bartenders, according to UNITE HERE Local 1. NBC Chicago video showed dozens of workers picketing outside the Sheraton at about 7 a.m.
The marathon has more than 55,000 participants and 75 percent of them travel from outside Illinois, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The effect on hotel guests was not immediately clear.
The contract dispute covers more than 7,000 workers at 46 Chicago hotels, but only workers at six hotels are on strike so far. The union said contracts at Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Marriott International and Hyatt Hotels Corp. hotels expired Aug. 31.
In September, 85 percent of union members voted to authorize strikes.
“If these companies can afford billions for shareholders, they can afford fair wages for workers,” Karen Kent, president of UNITE HERE Local 1, said in the union’s news release. “These strikes send a clear message: hotel workers are done being left behind.”
Kent told the Sun-Times that workers have reported using food banks and payday loans to pay rent and bills. She said more talks are scheduled and the union will keep taking action until there is an agreement.
A 2025 union survey found that 32 percent of workers lacked money to cover rent or mortgage payments in the previous year. Two-thirds said their hours were cut during the slow period, the Sun-Times reported.
Workers are seeking higher wages, improved healthcare benefits, better pensions, civil rights protections and safer workloads. The union said negotiations failed to produce agreements that met its members’ demands.
The union said the walkout could become the largest hotel strike in Chicago history if workers at more hotels join. The previous major hotel strike in Chicago lasted about a month in 2018, according to the union.
Marriott said in a statement that its hotels have protocols to operate and care for guests if staffing is affected, Bisnow reported. The company said it remains available to meet the union’s negotiating committee to reach an agreement that is fair to all parties.
In September, union workers at Embassy Suites by Hilton Seattle Downtown Pioneer Square ended an 85-day strike after ratifying a new contract with Hilton. The agreement raised wages, expanded health care coverage and provided protections for immigrant workers.
