Many employees of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront are on strike.
The strike that began on Sunday is for higher pay and better working conditions, according to employees on the picket line.
“We’ve been in bargaining with the hotel for months and they haven’t even given us an economic proposal yet and the workers really felt like they were being disrespected. We are hoping by calling for this strike we are pushing the company to be serious and come back to negotiations,” President of Unite Here Local 30, Brigette Browning said.
The employees are seeking a pay increase over the life of a new three-year contract, according to Browning.
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“Our lowest paid workers are making $24 an hour. We are currently asking for a $15 raise over the course of the contract, so that they would go to $39 an hour,” Browning said.
Approximately 10,000 hotel employees across the country and 600 in San Diego are on strike, according to Browning.
“Right now, I have six hotels that I work for because no hotel gives us a full-time job,” Hilton San Diego Bayfront employee Orfia Ortiz said.
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In a statement before the strikes began, Hilton said it was, “committed to negotiating in good faith to reach fair and reasonable agreements.”
The U.S. hotel industry employs approximately 1.9 million people, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While the parties continue negotiations employees said they don’t plan to back down from striking anytime soon.
“Maybe a month, or more than a month. It doesn’t matter we are ready,” Ortiz said.
