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Hotel workers at several Philadelphia hotels say they are prepared to go on strike in June, potentially snarling hotel accommodation plans for hundreds of thousands of fans expected to visit the city during the FIFA World Cup.
Unite Here Local 274, which represents more than 4,000 hotel and food workers at Philadelphia's stadiums, hotels and airports protested outside of the Philadelphia World Cup host committee headquarters Wednesday.
Multiple strikes at Center City hotels over the last year ultimately led to new worker contracts and increasing wages from $19 per hour to $30. President Rosslyn Wuchinich said that if any remaining hotels without new contracts don't agree to terms by June 12, strikes will run from the World Cup to the Fourth of July.
“Our members are prepared to sacrifice for themselves and for all working people to have a living wage in our city,†Wuchinich said.
Sheraton University City room inspector William Gaines said the raise they received once a new contract was signed was “life-changing.â€
“We're finally catching up with the cost of living,†Gaines said. “It took all of us, and especially the workers at the Hampton, the Wyndham and the Sheraton Downtown, going out on strike for us to win this deal. When all the hotel workers stand up together, we are like one fist … No one is getting left behind.â€
