PHOENIX — A group of protesters banging buckets and ringing bells were hoping to push forward negotiations to enact a new union contract with the Hilton Resort at the Peaks near 16th Street and Glendale Avenue Friday morning.
The union members with UNITE HERE Local 11 are demanding better wages, arguing that they still feel the financial impact of the pandemic, and any wage growth they have experienced so far is too little.
“After the pandemic, a lot of people could not survive on the money they give to us,” said Jose Cruz, one of the protestors.
Cruz said he had worked for the company for 27 years, but didn’t believe his wages are keeping up with rising costs of living in Phoenix.
“All the bills, all the rent, all the food, they hike the price. So that’s why we stay here to fight the company,” Cruz said.
Nationwide, the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows leisure and hospitality weekly earnings have risen in the last four years. The median hourly wage for hospitality workers, not including supervisors, nationally was $18.87.
The data show workers affiliated with a union earn more than non-union members, but does not reflect any dues paid to the unions.
UNITE HERE Local 11 led strikes in California in July, but the workers in Phoenix are not currently on strike as negotiations with Hilton continue.
A spokesperson for Hilton told 12News that the Hilton Resort at the Peak is “independently owned and operated and therefore we are unable to speak on their behalf.”
The manager of the hotel had not returned our request for comment by Friday afternoon.