UNITE HERE Local 8: Are Hilton Hotels nICE Hotels? Seattle Embassy Suites Workers Call Out Company’s Insufficient Protections for Immigrants as Strike Passes 50 Days

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As workers at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Seattle Downtown Pioneer Square mark 50 days on strike, their union UNITE HERE Local 8 is calling out Hilton Hotels for rejecting proposed contract language that would require Hilton to tell Local 8 if ICE or DHS agents are present on the premises.

“With ICE-related killings in the news for months causing immigrant workers to worry, why is Hilton refusing to give immigrant workers’ union a heads up if ICE is staying at the hotel? Give people a chance to protect themselves and their families.”

Share

The union launched a digital billboard in downtown Seattle and digital ads to Hilton customers that place Hilton’s brand inside an ice cube, symbolizing the company’s ongoing position that ICE agents are welcome to stay at its hotels. The ads ask, “Are Hilton Hotels nICE hotels?” and remind customers the hotel is under boycott.

Hilton has faced public scrutiny for welcoming ICE agents to stay at its hotels and for removing their brand and loyalty program from a hotel after the hotel cancelled bookings for ICE agents during the surge in Minneapolis. Activist group Sunrise Movement launched a national boycott and a series of actions in response.

Embassy Suites workers have been on strike since June 18 for protections from ICE, as well as year-round healthcare, fair raises and staffing levels. The proposed contract language around ICE would require the company to notify Local 8 if it becomes aware of ICE on the premises and also give more flexibility to workers who don’t feel safe working while ICE is around.

“With ICE-related killings in the news for months causing immigrant workers to worry, why is Hilton refusing to give immigrant workers’ union a heads up if ICE is staying at the hotel?” said UNITE HERE Local 8 President Anita Seth. “Give people a chance to protect themselves and their families.”

“I’ve been seeing more ICE presence in my city and I’m worried. We’ve heard about ICE harassing and abducting people they think don’t ‘belong’ here. All we want is for our union to be told if ICE agents are at our hotel so we can protect ourselves from harassment or worse,” said Elkin Ortega, house attendant at Embassy Suites by Hilton Seattle Downtown. “Why is Hilton refusing to stand with us?”

UNITE HERE Local 8 represents about 7,000 workers in the hospitality industries of Oregon and Washington state. Local 8 members are housekeepers, cooks, bartenders, bellmen, food and beverage servers, drivers, bussers, and dishwashers.