Hotel workers strike at Hilton’s Embassy Suites in Seattle seeking fair wages and ICE protections

Hotel workers have gone on strike on Thursday at Hilton’s Embassy Suites in Pioneer Square, calling for better wages, more hours, and year-round healthcare.

The strike officially began at 6:30 a.m. with a picket line set up at 255 S. King Street in Seattle, according to a news release.

Workers push for pre-pandemic staffing levels, protections from ICE

Unionized hotel workers apart of UNITE HERE Local 8, are fighting for a new union contract that includes protections from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, fair raises, and returning to pre-pandemic staffing levels.

“I am striking because I don’t get enough hours, and I don’t make enough money,” said Teresa Joseph, an Embassy Suites restaurant worker and Local 8 union leader. “I don’t have a full eight hours – only six. This isn’t livable within Seattle. I just want to be able to live in the city I work in. I take the metro from Kent every day because I can’t afford to fix my car.”

The union has asked the public not to sleep, eat, or meet at Embassy Suites Pioneer Square until the strike has concluded. Local 8 also noted that the MLK County Labor Council sanctioned the strike.

“Hotel workers who are welcoming visitors from around the world to Seattle shouldn’t have to work second and third jobs to support their families or worry about whether they will have healthcare over the slow months in winter,” said Anita Seth, Local 8 president. “And, as a majority immigrant workforce, they deserve the peace of mind of notification from their employer if ICE or DHS is on property.”

UNITE HERE Local 8 represents roughly 7,000 hospitality industry workers in Washington and Oregon. The workers’ positions include housekeepers, cooks, bartenders, bellmen, drivers, bussers, dishwashers, and food and beverage servers. Additionally, Local 8 represents 300,000 hotel, food service, and gaming workers across the U.S. and Canada.

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