Hotel Workers OK Contract With Hilton San Diego Bayfront After Strike

SAN DIEGO, CA — A union representing hotel workers voted over the weekend to ratify a new contract with Hilton San Diego Bayfront.

The vote makes official a tentative agreement the union and hotel management struck Wednesday night after hundreds of hotel workers began striking outside the hotel, which is located adjacent to the San Diego Convention Center where San Diego Comic-Con took place through Sunday.

"We absolutely had to fight for this fair contract, but so many people throughout the region saw us, stood with us, and helped us show that San Diego workers are just as powerful as San Diego hotels," said Brigette Browning, president of Unite Here Local 30, a hotel and hospitality workers' union that represents about 6,000 members working in the hotel, food service and hospitality industries in San Diego and Imperial counties.

The two-year contract was approved Saturday night by 89.3 percent of membership, according to the union, which represents nearly 600 hotel workers at Hilton San Diego Bayfront. The contract yields a 20 percent increase in hourly wages for non-tipped employees over the next two years. Other highlights include:

• $4 increase in hourly wages over two years
• Lifts policy restricting automatic daily room cleaning service, which limited housekeepers' hours
• Continuity of health coverage
• 24-month pandemic recall, which requires that laid-off workers are offered their position back before new applicants
• No increase in employee parking fees, which had been previously proposed

"The overwhelming approval of this contract shows how much it will help our members during these difficult economic times," Browning said. "Our frontline tourism workers power our economy, and this contract is a step toward acknowledging the true value they provide our city."

Previous coverage:

• Workers At San Diego Hotel Go On Strike Before Start Of Comic-Con
• Union Reaches Tentative Agreement With Hilton Bayfront After Strike