Housekeeping employees at Philadelphia’s Hilton Garden Inn have been working without a contract since November 2024 and are preparing to strike. They are unionized by Unite Here Local 274 which represents 4,000 Philadelphia hospitality employees, including those in food and beverage service at stadiums and higher education institutions, as well as over a dozen Philadelphia Hilton Hotels.
Staff have been seen outside the Hilton Garden Inn at 11th and Arch Streets this week, accompanied by the Fat Cat inflatable. An employee and union representative spoke with the Philly Plain Dealer about their grievances and demands. Recently, they were required by their bosses to increase worker productivity by cleaning 32 rooms per employee per shift compared to their previous 15-20 rooms-per-shift quota. According to Jasmine Williams, a ten-year employee of the company, workers were recently offered a 50 cent raise in exchange for being asked to do nearly double the amount of labor. The housekeeping staff currently makes $23.11/hour, and have been pushing with support from their union since 2024 to steadily increase wages, earning $30/hour by 2028.
Jasmine told the Philly Plain Dealer that Hilton also changed their stayover cleaning policy from daily room cleanings to every other day while still charging guests the same. “That’s not fair to the people that are paying $500, $600 to stay here. And then they get less access to the services we provide because they’re cutting our hours.”
Like most jobs that offer insurance, Hilton requires its employees to work a minimum of 35 hours per week to qualify for health coverage–which is also no longer guaranteed. Because of the impasse between the union and the company, the hotel has cut hours for employees, often leaving them just a few hours short from being considered full-time. Facing brutal workload demands from the corporation and the threat of their families losing healthcare, housekeeping staff knew they needed to get the word out about the ways in which they’re being squeezed for all they have.
Members of Unite Here 274 are handing out fliers urging guests to request daily room cleanings to ensure a sustainable amount of working hours.
“$30 an hour is not enough to maintain a single-person household. With kids too?! We’re asking for this because these women use 100% of their bodies here. We need this [picket] because we need people to understand that is not enough to feed one person right now in this economy. The president is making us go to war right now. The gas prices are high. Inflation is high. Eggs are high, milk is high. Our insurance needs to be intact…right now we are surviving. We don’t get to live. We need this company to know that we’re not backing down, we’re here to stand here forever to get what we deserve. No way no how are we gonna back down and get less than that. $30 per hour by 2028. That’s what we’re gonna get. We can all make it out much better if we come together.” said nine-year stadium employee and Unite Here 274 rep. Tiffani Davis.
Leave a Reply