Major U.S. Hotel Owner, Key Driver of Service and Staffing Cuts, Has Multiple Properties Affected by Ongoing Strikes
A recent analysis found that hotels representing over 30% of Park Hotels and Resorts’ (NYSE: PK) hotel operating profit are impacted by ongoing U.S. hotel strikes. Park-owned hotels where workers with the UNITE HERE union are on strike generated nearly a third of its 2024 YTD hotel earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), the hotel industry’s standard measure of profitability.
Park is a real estate investment trust (REIT) and the biggest private-sector owner of Hilton hotels. An analysis by UNITE HERE estimated that Park earned 32.2% of its EBITDA at four hotels where Hilton employees are on strike: the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Seattle Airport, Hilton Boston Logan Airport, Hilton Hawaiian Village, and Hilton Seattle Airport & Conference Center.
Workers are calling for higher wages, fair staffing and workloads, and the reversal of COVID-era cuts. The union says that many hotel owners like Park took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to drive staffing and service cuts that were never restored.
In 2020, Park Hotels said it planned a “permanent reduction of full-time, hotel level staffing” through plans to expand “contactless check-in/room service,” “limit housekeeping,” and “eliminate or re-purpose unprofitable F&B operations (e.g., buffets) and outlets.”
In 2023, Park CEO Thomas Baltimore said, “We continue to reap the benefits from the reimagined operational model developed during the pandemic, which translated into labor costs that were 16% lower in 2022 versus 2019, and are expected to remain above our target of approximately 1,200 positions or a 9% headcount reduction throughout 2023.”
Over 12,000 hotel workers across the U.S. have gone on strike since Labor Day weekend, and 2,454 workers who are currently on strike are employed by Hilton at Park-owned hotels. These members of the UNITE HERE union include housekeepers, front desk agents, cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders, drivers, and more.
Workers in Boston and Honolulu say they will strike until they win a new contract, while workers in Seattle are on a one-week strike from Oct. 12 to 18. Negotiations in all three cities remain unresolved, and the strike at the Hilton Hawaiian Village – Park’s biggest and most lucrative hotel – has already lasted over three weeks. Guests at the Hilton Hawaiian Village held a protest in the hotel lobby to demand refunds.
“I’m on strike because my workload is overwhelming and exhausting. I love my job and I want to take care of our guests, but with the understaffing I am stretched so thin,” said Jason Viveiros, a front desk agent at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. “My wife and I are expecting another child in a few months so having a reasonable workload would mean that instead of being physically and mentally depleted every day, I have the energy to take care of my family and their needs.”
The union urges travelers not to eat, meet, or sleep at any hotel that’s on strike. Picket lines will run outside struck hotels for up to 24 hours a day, and hotels may suspend services while trying to operate with skeleton staffing. Guests have experienced disruptions including unavailable daily housekeeping, towels and linens piled up in hallways, piles of trash visible outside, closed bars and restaurants, and reduced pool hours.
For more information on what guests are saying about hotels owned by Park Hotels and Resorts, visit parkhotelscapexproblems.org.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241016991994/en/
Contacts
Ted Waechter 919-636-1124 twaechter@unitehere2.org
