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Hilton workers poised to end SF’s three-month hotel strike

A group of people are passionately protesting in a city street, holding signs that read "RESPECT OUR WORK" and "ON STRIKE." One person speaks into a megaphone.
Workers will vote on a new agreement with Hilton on Tuesday. | Source: Benjamin Fanjoy/AP Photo

San Francisco’s three-month hotel strike is about to end, with Hilton workers set to ratify a new contract on Christmas Eve.

The pending agreement, first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, comes after unions approved similar deals with the Hyatt and Marriott last week.

Contracts OK’d by workers at the Marriott and Hyatt raised wages, preserved health insurance, and guarded against workload increases caused by understaffing.

The proposed Hilton deal reportedly includes similar provisions. A vote on the pact is set for Tuesday.

The monthslong strike mobilized about 2,500 workers at some of the city’s biggest hotels: the Westin St. Francis, Marriott Marquis, and Palace Hotel.

It also shook the city’s tourism industry, and loudly disrupted Union Square during peak holiday shopping season.

“These 93 days have not been easy, and I’m so proud that my coworkers and I never gave up,” Bill Fung, a 29-year Hilton janitor, said in a union press release Monday. “We stood together through the rain and cold, and even though there were some hard days, it was all worth it. We will go back to work with our health care, good raises, and the confidence of knowing that when we fight, we win.”

The Hilton has yet to return The Standard’s request for comment.

The picket lines in San Francisco were among several to form nationwide in recent months, with 10,000 hotel workers going on strike in 11 U.S. cities since Labor Day.

Jennifer Wadsworth can be reached at jennifer@sfstandard.com