DETROIT – On Sunday hotel housekeepers, servers, cooks and doormen walked off the job and are on strike at the historic Marriott Westin Book Cadillac in downtown Detroit in what is the first Michigan hotel worker strike in decades.
Hotel workers at the Westin Book Cadillac are joining thousands of Marriott workers across the country, demanding fair wages.
"Detroit hotel workers are on strike today because we're fighting for economic justice for ourselves and for our families," said UNITE HERE Local 24 President Nia Winston.
He added that after months of negotiations, Marriott has refused to increase wages for full-time workers.
"Workers at the Marriott-operated Westin Book stuck by this city through its hardest times, taking years of pay freezes during the recession to make sure the hotel stayed open. Now the Westin Book Cadillac is the most profitable hotel in the city, yet workers here are being punished for their loyalty, not rewarded - hotel workers at the Westin Book make thousands less a year than hotel workers six blocks away in the same city at hotels that are less profitable," said Winston.
Detroit is one of three cities to hold a strike against Marriott Sunday; there are currently over 5,000 UNITE HERE hotel workers on strike against Marriott in Detroit, San Francisco, Boston, San Jose, and Oakland.
The hotel issued a statement saying it will remain open and "continue to bargain in good faith for a fair contract."