Hotel workers vote to strike if fair contract isn't reached
October 28, 2009
Workers at five downtown Chicago Starwood Hotels & Resorts voted overwhelmingly to authorize their union to call a strike if a fair contract settlement isn't reached, a spokesman for Unite Here Local 1 said today.
Eighty-nine percent of workers voting OKed giving union negotiators that authority.
The union's contract covering 1,200 workers at Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, Westin Michigan Ave, the Tremont Hotel, W Chicago-City Center and W Chicago-Lakeshore expired Aug. 31.
Contract negotiations have been ongoing. Unite Here is opposing company-proposed changes in health care benefits that could leave many workers without coverage, union spokesman Jim Baker said.