The 40-day strike by workers at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort appears to be nearing an end after Hilton and UNITE HERE Local 5 announced a tentative agreement on a new contract late Saturday.
The union represents more than 1,800 hotel workers at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, including housekeepers, front desk agents, restaurant staff, maintenance workers and others.
Workers are expected to hold a ratification vote Monday with a likely return to work Tuesday, UNITE HERE Local 5 said in a news release.
Separate releases from the union and Hilton did not detail the terms of the tentative agreement or which employees would be covered by it.
“We believe this agreement is beneficial to our valued Team Members and to our hotel. We look forward to welcoming our Team Members back to work and continuing to provide our guests with our signature hospitality,” Adam Wit, Hilton vice president and senior counsel for labor relations, said in a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
More than 3,200 Local 5 members at seven hotels across Hawaii are still working without a contract and could strike at any time, the union said. Contract negotiations have been ongoing since April. In August they voted to authorize a strike, emphasizing priorities such as wage increases to keep pace with the rising cost of living, proper staffing and reinstatement of guest services cut during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The union argues that many hotels took advantage of the pandemic to reduce staffing and suspend guest services such as daily room cleaning, resulting in job and income losses and creating challenging working conditions for employees who have been burdened with heavier workloads.
Earlier Saturday, hundreds of supporters, including labor unions, advocacy groups and elected officials, rallied in solidarity with striking UNITE HERE Local 5 workers, demanding a fair contract and an end to the strike.
The Defend and Respect Hawai‘i Workers Coalition, which includes the Hawai‘i Workers Center, Hawaii Nurses Association, Academic Labor United and the Democratic Socialists of Oahu, among others, gathered at Ala Moana Beach Park before marching to the Waikiki resort.
Raymund Liongson, a community member who helped organize Saturday’s demonstration, expressed strong support not only for hotel workers but for Hawaii’s working class as a whole. He was among the picketers arrested Sept. 23 during the nurses lockout at Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women and Children.
“The community is not separated from the working class, which supports it, so we must help each other,” he said. “Hotel workers and other community members energize the Hawaii economy, and without them, it could suffer … .
“We hope that Hilton’s corporate management will engage in good faith negotiations with the union, listen to the workers, and address fair demands for better working conditions, improved wages and a fair contract,” Liongson said. “This is just one hotel, but other hotel workers in Waikiki are facing the same situation. Improving conditions here will benefit not only Hilton employees but also those at other hotels.”
Gerritt Vincent, a bellman at Hilton Hawaiian Village with 10 years of service, said his workload and income have suffered from staffing cuts since the pandemic.
“There are times I struggle to keep up with the heavier workload and the pressure to deliver the ‘Aloha Spirit’ to guests. The staffing cuts also mean that it’s not always guaranteed that I will make my 40 hours every week, which I depend on to pay my bills and qualify for benefits like health insurance,” he said in a news release about the march. “This was not an issue I had to deal with in 2019.”
Also participating in the march were state Reps. Della Au Belatti and Amy Perusso, along with Rep.-elect Kim Coco Iwamoto, who noted the state “pours tens of millions of taxpayer dollars every year to promote Hawai‘i’s brand as a premiere vacation destination to visitors across the world.”
“When corporations like Hilton cut back on staffing and the services and amenities they offer guests, they are watering down our brand and hurting our community,” Iwamoto said in a statement. “I am proud to stand in solidarity with striking hotel workers and every person in the community that relies on tourists returning to Hawaii and being willing to pay more for quality service.”
Since 2019 the U.S. hotel industry’s gross operating profit has risen by 26.63%, while hotel staffing has decreased by 13%.
According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Hawaii hotel revenue for 2024 is up 25.4% year-to-date compared to 2019, climbing from $2.6 billion in 2019 to $3.3 billion this year. Additionally, the average daily rate for a hotel room in Hawaii has increased by 25.6%, from $303.93 in 2019 to $384.54 in 2024.
