Hundreds of downtown Chicago hotel workers go on strike during marathon weekend

North Water St. Workers have been picketing all day and told NBC Chicago they’re fighting for better wages and healthcare. “It’s sad, but we have to fight you know, the company don’t want to sign the contract,” said Susana Cancino, hotel employee. Unite Here Local 1, the union representing thousands of hotel workers, said members have been without a contract since September at the Hilton, Marriott, and Hyatt. “They have all the money why not share with us and give people a little bit of what they deserve,” said Emmanuel Njiwah, hotel employee. The list of hotel workers includes room attendants, cooks, bellman, and front desk agents. Martese Kennedy started working at the Sheraton four years ago. “Without us the hotel would not run, without us nobody would come to the Sheraton hotel, without us the hotel won’t get cleaned, without us the hotel would not function at all,” said Martese Kennedy, hotel employee. Cellphone video provided to NBC Chicago shows the conditions and workload. The union said workers deserve better pay and that 32% of workers surveyed don’t make enough to cover their rent or pay their mortgage. “Housing is hard, gas is hard, groceries are hard, healthcare is hard, insurance,” he said. “Everything is like high getting higher by the day.” The strike comes during a busy Bank of America Chicago Marathon weekend for the city, with guests filling hotels. “This is America, right, they’re entirely entitled to protest for what they’re asking for what they want,” said Hugo Arreola, visiting from El Paso. The union said this could be the largest hotel strike in Chicago’s history if workers at more hotels go on strike. The group is trying to get a deal done for 7,000 workers at 46 hotels. “We just want to be treated fairly and equally like everyone else,” he said. The last major hotel strike was back in 2018. That lasted for about a month, according to the union. Marriott in a statement told NBC Chicago: Our hotels have well-established protocols in place to operate and take care of guests in the event of any impact to staffing, and we look forward to welcoming our guests to Chicago this weekend. We remain available to meet with the local union negotiating committee to reach an agreement that is fair to all parties.