Workers Strike At 26 Chicago Hotels; Find Out Which Ones

CHICAGO — More than two dozen Chicago hotels — including many of the city's upscale accommodations — are now affected by striking workers, according to UNITE HERE Local 1, the union that represents thousands of doormen, housekeepers, bartenders and other hotel employees. Workers at 25 hotels went on strike Friday, waiting around a week to walk out after union contracts expired Aug. 31.

The strike has the potential of hitting 30 Chicago hotels. As of Tuesday afternoon, 26 hotels already had striking workers, according to the union, which has a complete list of affected hotels on its website.

Workers are walking out to demand a new contract that include year-round health insurance, sick days and other heal-related benefits, the union said. The 30 union contracts cover around 6,000 hotel employees. (Subscribe to get Patch real-time email alerts and daily newsletters for the latest Chicago news. And Android and iPhone users: Check out Patch's app.)

“Hotels may slow down in the wintertime, but I still need my diabetes medication when I’m laid off," Palmer House house attendant Q. Rivers said in a release from the union. "Nobody should lose their health benefits just because it’s cold out. Full-time jobs should have year-round benefits.”

"They work us like dogs when it’s busy and then kick us to the curb in the winter,” Rivers added.

Here are the affected Chicago hotels, as well as the hotels that could see employee walk outs.

Hotels With Striking Workers

• Ambassador Chicago, 1301 N. State Pkwy.
• Cambria Hotel Chicago Magnificent Mile, 166 E. Superior St.
• Crowne Plaza Hotel Chicago West Loop, 733 W. Madison St.
• Doubletree Chicago Magnificent Mile, 300 E. Ohio St.
• Drake Hotel, 140 E. Walton Place
• Hampton Inn/Homewood Suites Magnificent Mile, 152 E. Huron St.
• Hilton Chicago, 720 S. Michigan Ave.
• Holiday Inn Mart Plaza, 350 W. Mart Center Drive
• Hotel Blake, 500 S. Dearborn St.
• Hyatt Regency Chicago, 151 E. Upper Wacker Drive
• Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, 2233 S. Martin Luther King Drive
• Inn of Chicago, 162 E. Ohio St.
• JW Marriott, 151 W. Adams St.
• Kimpton Hotel Allegro, 171 W. Randolph St.
• Kimpton Hotel Palomar, 505 N. State St.
• Kinzie Hotel, 20 W. Kinzie St.
• Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel Chicago, 163 E. Walton Place
• Palmer House, 17 E. Monroe St.
• Ritz-Carlton Chicago, Water Tower Place, 160 E. Pearson St.
• Sheraton Grand Chicago, 301 E. North Water St.
• W Chicago – City Center, 172 W. Adams St.
• W Chicago – Lakeshore, 644 N. Lake Shore Drive
• Warwick Allerton, 701 N. Michigan Ave.
• The Westin Michigan Avenue Chicago, 909 N. Michigan Ave.
• The Westin Chicago River North, 320 N. Dearborn St.
• Wyndham Grand, 71 E. Upper Wacker Drive

Hotels With No Striking Workers But Having an Expired Contract

• Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park, 200 N. Columbus Drive
• Park Hyatt Chicago, 800 N. Michigan Ave.
• Raffaello Hotel, 201 E. Delaware Place
• Tremont Chicago Hotel at Magnificent Mile, 100 E. Chestnut St.

The most recent hotel to be affected by striking employees was the Cambria Hotel Chicago Magnificent Mile. Union workers walked out at that hotel Monday, according to the union.

The Drake Hotel in Chicago (Image via Google Earth)