Embassy Suites Worker Strike: When We Fight, We Win!!
Many pictures provided by Carlos Lupe III instagram.com/crowspeak_art_photo/
Throughout history, labor unions have set an example of how to organize strategically to change the material conditions of workers across our nation. The story of Unite Here Local 8 and the Embassy Suites hotel worker strike this summer is an incredible example of cross-sector organizing and solidarity. Workers demanded meaningful raises in the midst of skyrocketing cost of living, sufficient staffing, healthcare that does not disappear month to month depending on how many hours they’re given, and protections from ICE. As one of our faith leaders on the picket line shared – these are not outrageous demands.
After weeks of negotiation leading up to the end of their contract, hotel workers made the bold choice to strike. Highly impacted workers, many of whom are migrants, took on significant risks to their livelihoods, their paychecks, and their safety by standing up to their bosses and to ICE itself. For 85 days, they created a public spectacle, bringing the support of other unions, people of faith, city and state elected officials, and supporters throughout the region, disrupting business as usual in order to create the change needed. They made phone calls to patrons and people who booked events at the hotel to get them to cancel their reservations. They hosted press conferences and media interviews, centering the leadership and stories of the workers.
The longest hotel worker strike in Seattle history ended last weekend, not because management discovered a sense of morality and decided to treat their workers better, but because the workers organized our collective power to hit them in the money. This was a strategic move necessitated precisely by the hotel's lack of morality, which involved multiple tactics and deep relationship and accountability across communities. The hotel realized that the people have the power, and when we fight, we win!
The organizing we did as people of faith was significant as well - we were one of the most consistent partners showing up on the picket line. Over the past decade, it has felt difficult to reunite faith and labor in a meaningful way. We would get 1-2 people to support a labor action, but the importance of those moments wasn't fully communicated. Embassy Suites was something different – because of the interdependence we are beginning to build between faith traditions, between organizations, and between faith and labor, our networks are beginning to act from a place of shared responsibility. We are beginning to see the power we hold collectively and how to harness that power toward transformational change.
One or two people waving a sign is not likely to get us very far. One loud 6 AM wakeup call is not going to move a corporation. But 85 days of disruption day in and day out, exposing the greed and dehumanizing nature of corporations, denying them access to the resources and people they’ve been exploiting, moved a mountain. Embassy Suites housekeepers are now the highest paid housekeepers in Washington state, setting a precedent that supports other workers far beyond their hotel.
Today we celebrate with the workers of Embassy Suites - no longer strangers but comrades, neighbors we are proud to make a powerful and joyful noise with! When one of our communities is under attack, what do we do? STAND UP, FIGHT BACK!