Overview
- The walkouts began Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, when workers at six downtown hotels left their jobs and picketed outside the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk, Palmer House Hilton, Waldorf Astoria, two Westins and the Millennium Knickerbocker.
- UNITE HERE Local 1 says negotiations failed to produce acceptable contracts and union members authorized strikes by an 85% vote after contracts covering major chains expired on Aug. 31.
- Strikers are pressing for higher wages, stronger health care and pension benefits, civil-rights protections and limits on heavy workloads that workers say cause exhaustion and financial strain.
- Union leaders highlighted that Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt returned about $22.3 billion to shareholders over three years and said hotel companies have not yet issued immediate public responses to requests for comment.
- The timing puts pressure on hoteliers as thousands of marathon participants and visitors arrive this weekend; union leaders warn the dispute could broaden citywide and point to a 2018 multi-hotel strike that yielded concessions after weeks of action.