Union, Omni hotels reach agreement

Hilton Park Plaza workers still on strike

Yawu Miller

Yawu Miller is the former senior editor of the Bay State Banner. He has written for the Banner since 1988.... VIEW BIO

Members of UNITE HERE Local 26 voted Sunday to ratify a contract with the Omni Parker and Omni Seaport hotels that delivered pay increases and improved retirement and health care benefits, ending a nearly week-long strike.

Outside the SEIU 32BJ union headquarters in Downtown Crossing, cafeteria attendant Eric Tonto said he was happy with the outcome of the strike, one of several staged by Local 26 workers.

“This is a contract we fought for and won,” he said, standing amid a throng of hotel workers who filled West Street, blocking midday traffic. “We needed an increase. You spend all your money on your rent and you don’t have anything left for your kids.”

The new agreement includes a $10 an hour pay increase for tipped workers over the four years of the contract. Union members representing the 685 workers in the two hotels also negotiated to keep intact their existing health care plan and secured improved hiring and severance language.

On Sunday, scores of Omni hotel workers marched across Tremont Street and the Boston Common to the Hilton Park Plaza hotel, joining a picket line of Local 26 members there who are still striking.

At the Park Plaza, where nearly 600 workers have been on strike since Oct. 6, the union members and supporters beat drums, chanted and handed out flyers to arriving hotel guests urging them to cancel their reservations and book elsewhere.

The Boston strikes come as hotel workers across the country have walked off their jobs, seeking pay increases to keep up with increased costs of rent, food and services. UNITE HERE members have reached deals with hotels in Connecticut, Baltimore, Providence, San Diego and Toronto, Canada.

At the Park Plaza, union members said they’re seeking a better pension plan and an increase in the hourly wage.

“These companies make millions of dollars, and it’s the staff that makes it happen,” said Karen, a worker at the hotel who declined to give her last name. “We had a fair contract with the last owners. This year, we can’t come to an agreement.”

Sunstone Hotel Investors sold the 1,060-room hotel to Hilton Hotels franchisee Parks Hospitality Holdings last October for $370 million. Parks Hospitality did not respond to the Banner’s request for comment for this story.

Also picketing at the Park Plaza was Gary Stillwell, a chef at the Copley Fairmount, which has signed an agreement to provide its workers with pay and benefits increases commensurate with the average increases won at hotels such as the Omni and Hilton locations.

Stillwell said his pay and benefits are good, but he and other union members there don’t want new hires to continue coming in at a lower wage.

“We want equal justice for all hires,” he said.

Stillwell joined the picket line as hotel workers chanted, “Park Plaza on strike, all day, all night,” beating plastic buckets and drums and blowing on horns. Passing cars and trucks honked in solidarity with the workers while hotel guests scurried past the picket line.