Historic hotel workers strike in Houston

Houston — Historians agree they cannot remember a strike by workers at a hotel in Texas. The one happening now at the downtown Hilton Americas-Houston is more than unusual as it could reshape history. 

“This does set a precedent,” said Thomas Alter, professor of U.S. and Texas history at Texas State University. “It happens to be the hotel workers in Houston, but the eyes of Texas are upon them.” (Houston Chronicle, Sept. 7)

“Texas is not a state where the politics are friendly to workers, so it’s a rather bold move on the part of the workers at the Hilton,” Nancy Beck Young, a U.S. history professor and director of the Center for Public History at the University of Houston, told the Houston Chronicle.

The striking Hilton workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 23, walked out on Labor Day, asking for higher wages and better working conditions. At 6 a.m., workers broke the morning quietness in the downtown area by beginning their picket line outside two hotel entrances, chanting, “Aquí estamos y no nos vamos.”

(Here we are and we won’t leave.)

It was to have been a 10-day strike, but the workers voted to extend their strike to Sept. 20. UNITE HERE International President Gwen Mills called the Hilton strike “truly historic for the hospitality industry in Texas” and said other union locals are watching. The strikers “specifically inspire hotel workers in the South, in places where wages are low, benefits are hard to come by, and the laws haven’t been as favorable for people choosing to stand up.”