On September 19, more than 1,200 unionized hotel workers walked off the job at four business hotels in Boston operated by Marriott and Omni. The planned three-day strike came with only three days’ notice from labor union Unite Here, which represents employees in the food-and-beverage, housekeeping, bar, lounge, and bell departments.
In addition, Unite Here says that strikes have been authorized and could begin at any time in Baltimore; Greenwich, Conn.; Honolulu; Kauai; New Haven, Conn.; Oakland; Providence; Sacramento; San Francisco; San Jose; and Seattle.
More than 10,000 workers at business hotels in several of those cities already conducted three-day strikes from September 1 to 3 after their contracts had expired. A second wave of three-day walkouts in the other cities took place the following week.
What Can Planners Do?
The union’s recent tactic to conduct brief strikes on short notice can wreak havoc on meeting groups in affected cities, requiring creative solutions to preserve the quality of an event experience.
One example: During a short-notice hotel strike in Detroit in fall 2022, the 3,000-attendee Connect Marketplace (a sister brand of MeetingsNet) saw one of the biggest hotels in its room block lose most of its staff on check-in day.
To make things work, Visit Detroit, the city’s convention bureau, “pulled together a bunch of their people, including their executives, to do housekeeping and turn the rooms,” according to Derek Rodriguez, senior vice president of sales for Connect. “They did a really good job minimizing the disruption.”
Meanwhile, hotel management secured dozens of bottles of Champagne and handed each guest a complimentary glass of bubbly as they waited to be checked in by other managers.
Planners with upcoming events in cities facing potential strikes should be ready to work with their destination partners and communicate with attendees if they face similar disruptions to their playbook.
