No Vacancies on the Picket Line in Chicago

Thousands of striking hotel workers capped off a week of picketing last week with big rallies and marches in downtown Chicago last Thursday — and with workers at yet another hotel joining their union sisters and brothers at the 25 hotels already on strike.

Some 6,000 members of UNITE HERE Local 1 went on strike September 7 in the first citywide hotel strike in over a century and one of the largest strikes in recent Chicago history.

In addition to safer workloads, higher wages, more sick days and improved job security, one of strikers’ most important demands is year-round health insurance in an industry where workers with lower seniority are laid off during the slower winter months and lose access to benefits.

“The Hyatt Regency said we have to stock up on our medication if we’re diabetic,” said Marabel Grande, explaining the hotel’s so-called health care policy. “And if you get into an accident or you needed surgery, do it before your time [covered by insurance] lapses. Or hold your breath.”

Read more: https://socialistworker.org/2018/09/18/no-vacancies-on-the-picket-line-in-chicago