On a windy Friday evening, more than 20 people picketed outside the 24-story Hilton Americas-Houston, next to the sprawling George R. Brown Convention Center. The striking workers have a shared economic grievance.
“We gotta live paycheck to paycheck. It’s not enough for us to cover our bills,” Aylin Alvarez, a housekeeper, said.
“Because Hilton is only paying us $16.50 an hour — so not enough to keep up with [the] cost of living and, you know, rent, bills,” added Bill Guillen, a PBX telephone operator.
They said the $23 hourly wage the 400 striking union members are asking for would change their lives.
The situation is unprecedented in more ways than one — the historic nature of the labor action, the underlying context of the hotel’s record-breaking financial performance and the unique financial arrangement of the public-private partnership operating the hotel.
Unprecedented financial performance and a historic strike
According to union officials with UNITE HERE Local 23, Hilton has counter-offered with an immediate $1 raise — to $17.50 an hour — followed by a 75-cent increase in January and 50-cent raises every six months.
“We do a lot for the hotel, so we are just asking for a little bit from them, and I feel like the response they have given is not fair,” Alvarez said.
“Because, again, a lot of these workers out here have been here for 10, 15, 20 years,” Guillen said. “In fact, myself, I was here when they opened the door of the hotel [in 2003]. So, you know, it feels very, very disrespectful.”
They argued Hilton, the operator of the hotel, and Houston First, the owner, can afford it — as the hotel saw record profit and revenue over the past two years.
The prognosis on the future financial performance of Houston’s hospitality sector is also bright, according to Colin Sherman, who oversees Texas hospitality analytics for the CoStar Group, a commercial real estate information company.
“Houston’s been a really interesting story since last year. The conference and convention business has really peaked,” Sherman said, adding that while the record-breaking trend in Houston is likely to cool off in the near future, Houston First’s $2 billion transformation of the George R. Brown Convention Center over the next few years will spark another surge in demand. “That’s gonna be huge for the hotel industry as well.”
RELATED: How much money does Hilton Americas-Houston make?
The hotel’s record-breaking revenue isn’t the only unprecedented part of the strike. Labor historian Tom Alter with Texas State University said he can’t find another Texas hotel strike in the historic record.
According to Alter, this strike fits into a new pattern of increased union militancy, even after a long period of declining union density.
“Seeing working-class people organize and use their rights to demand economic justice is a historic thing that’s occurring right now, and we’ve seen this starting out with labor unions across the country,” Alter said.
An unusual financial arrangement
It’s also a unique situation because Houston First is a public entity — Houston’s local government corporation and essentially the city’s convention and tourism arm.
Houston City Council member Joaquin Martinez represents the downtown and East End area, which gives him a non-voting position on the Houston First board.
“At the end of the day, the city of Houston owns that property,” Martinez said. “We still can negotiate that contract with that operator to ensure that we’re doing the right thing, whatever it might be.”
Under the management agreement between Hilton and Houston First, obtained by Houston Public Media, the financial arrangement is such that increased wages would only eat into Houston First’s bottom line.
But Houston First CEO Michael Heckman, was reluctant to agree with Martinez’s perspective.
“They are Hilton’s employees, and Hilton has the duty and responsibility under our management agreement to handle those labor negotiations,” Heckman said. “So, we’re comfortable and confident that a good labor agreement will be reached.”
Hilton, for its part, hasn’t deviated from its statement over the past month, saying it’s “committed to providing enhanced economic benefits for our valued Team Members.”
RELATED: George R. Brown Convention Center workers to take strike vote
The striking hotel union members could soon be joined by about 100 food and beverage workers from the George R. Brown Convention Center. The convention center passed a strike authorization vote on Wednesday as the union prepares to demand a $23 hourly wage as part of a new contract, increasing the base rate from $16.
As the union flexes its power to strike before going to the bargaining table, their employer — the Levy food services company — said company officials “do not anticipate any disruption to service at upcoming events and have plans in place to continue service should a strike occur.”
The hotel strike is slated to end on Sunday, on the 42-day mark, but there have already been two extensions of what was initially a 9-day strike. Union officials said the strike fund is strong, and they wouldn’t rule out another extension.
