Employees strike at Hilton Sacramento Arden West hotel over housekeeper workload

Yahoo

3 days ago

Workers at the Hilton Sacramento Arden West went on strike Saturday to protest housekeeper workload, which the union's local chapter president said is higher than any other unionized hotel in Sacramento.
Unite Here Local 49 President Aamir Deen said he didn't know of any unionized workers that did not participate in the strike from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., but he said the hotel remained open as managerial employees tried to fill the gaps with temporary workers or staff from other hotels.
The union represents housekeepers, the largest group of hotel workers, as well as many other employees including dishwashers, servers and front desk workers.
Deen said he hopes to come to a resolution with the hotel after the strike and that 'escalating the economic action' is a possibility if an agreement is not reached.
Hilton Sacramento Arden West management and Hilton corporate representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday.
Currently, housekeepers clean between 15 and 30 rooms per shift based on a credit system where a room a guest has checked out of is worth one credit while a room a guest is returning to is worth one-half of a credit. Deen said the hotel has agreed to cap rooms cleaned per shift at 24, which he said is still 'far too many' and significantly more than the 15 or fewer rooms housekeepers are required to clean at other unionized Sacramento hotels.
Hilton Sacramento Arden West also had a 15-room cap until late 2024, he said.
Deen said housekeepers are often required to clean a room every 15 minutes, which leads to injuries and less-clean rooms.
'They want to be able to clean the rooms to the standard that our guests demand, and management insists on making them clean rooms every 15 minutes, and you just can't get all of the nooks and crannies in 15 minutes,' Deen said. 'All of the other union hotels have agreed to these same terms. We just want to have a fair playing field.'
The union has been in contract negotiations with the hotel since late 2024, Deen said, and has reached an agreement on most issues outside of housekeeper workload.
Dora Gomez, a housekeeper who has been working at the hotel for 18 years, said the increased workload has caused injuries to her back, shoulders and feet.
Gomez also said there have been a lot of guest complaints since the change due to problems like increased dust and stained showers that were created by the decreased time cleaning each room.
'When we have to clean more rooms, we can't provide the same quality. They want us to give quantity and quality, but we can't. That's not possible,' Gomez said through a translator. 'We want to be treated like people.'
Rosalba Ubaquae, a housekeeper who has been working at the hotel for two years, said housekeepers without seniority are struggling to get enough hours to make a living wage while those with seniority, who are typically older, are forced to work so much it is causing injuries.
Ubaquae said the hours she currently gets are 'impossible' to live off, forcing her to look for second jobs at multiple points during the year.
'We want the people who've been here for 30 years, who are more than 60 years of age, to have a job with dignity, and not have to have their bodies break down from the heavy workload,' Ubaquae said through a translator.