The Labor Wire
Sept. 12, 2018
The sights and sounds of solidarity are ringing through the Windy City today. Thousands of hotel workers are on strike, fighting for the dignity and security they’ve earned through hard work every day. Represented byUNITE HERE Local 1, the workers have walked out of 26 hotels across downtown Chicago.
Message of the Day—On Strike
Working people aren’t standing for mistreatment. After decades of living under broken political and economic rules, we’re demanding better than meager wages and slashed benefits.
We’re marching, organizing and—when necessary—striking for the brighter future that we deserve. When hotel management refused to provide year-round health care, workers across Chicago put their foot down.
“Hotels may slow down in the wintertime, but I still need my diabetes medication when I’m laid off. Nobody should lose their health benefits just because it’s cold out. Full-time jobs should have year-round benefits,” saidQ. Rivers, a house attendant at the Palmer House Hilton. “They work us like dogs when it’s busy and then kick us to the curb in the winter.”
Show your solidarity, and check out the full list of striking hotels.
Kitchen Table Economics
6: Number of days that Chicago hotel workers have been on strike.
Take Action
Ideas at Work
Sign up for updates on our Ideas at Work programming series! Here are a few, exciting upcoming events—always free and open to the public:
