AFSCME members joined Marriott hotel workers on Saturday at a rally in Boston’s Fairmont Copley Plaza, the latest show of unity among employees of the largest hotel chain in the world who have walked off their jobs across the United States to demand decent pay and safe working conditions, among other things.
They’re members of UNITE HERE, a labor union that represents 270,000 working people in the hotel, gaming, food service and other industries. And they’re striking under the banner: “One Job Should Be Enough.”
“Here’s the bottom line,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders at the event. “Marriott is a multibillion-dollar global corporation that’s making money hand over fist. They can afford to do better by their workers. They can afford to raise the bar.”
Saunders called Boston “a first-class destination” and recalled that it’s the people who provide the services that make it great.
“If the folks who provide tourists with an enjoyable stay in this city are priced out of living in this city … that’s shameful. That’s why we’re all out here today. That’s what this strike is all about.”