Francine Jones has been a room attendant at the Hyatt Regency at 151 E. Wacker Dr. for 35 years.
"This is worse than the pandemic," she said. "Increasing workloads. It's just been very stressful for the the workers. It's a great place to work but since the pandemic it's been very tacky."
She's one of hundreds of workers at the Hyatt Regency Chicago who, along with Hilton Chicago workers, went on strike Sunday, more than a week after workers at six other Chicago hotels did.
More than 7,000 workers across 46 Chicago hotels have been without a contract since the end of August. About 85% of workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 1 voted to authorize the strike.
Jones calls the situation "pitiful."
"They make money, all of them. All of them make money," she said. "All of them make bonuses off our backs, and we're fed up with it."
Carolina Garibay
Jesse O'Campo has been working at the Hyatt for 13 years.
He said he wants safer working conditions and better wages, pensions and healthcare benefits.
"What we do as a hotel, I think everybody deserves a better life, not just the managers but us, too because we work strong, we work hard. I think we deserve better," he said.
