Workers at the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale, one of the largest hotels in New Haven, are now on strike, following similar strikes in Greenwich and across the nation, as employees demand better pay, facing the pressures of increased costs of living.
Carla Vallati, who works as a guest room attendant at the Omni New Haven Hotel, said she’s on strike over the hotel not agreeing to union demands for a better contract mandating pay increases and improved benefits after the previous one expired.
She’s nervous, but the alternative is worse.
“How am I going to pay my rent in a few years,” Vallati said.
Vallati’s concerns are common. The majority of workers on strike, she said, are working extra jobs to make ends meet. The average rent for a one bedroom apartment in New Haven is now over $2,000 a month, according to Apartments.com.
Other workers said they were fortunate to have a dual-income household, allowing them to better withstand the cost of living in the city.
The strike comes after union officials such as Josh Stanley, the Secretary Treasurer of Local 217 Unite Here, said an existing work contract expired, and union members said the hotel wasn’t willing to meet their demands.
“The company is still very far away from where we need to be, and so that's what you're seeing today. People have walked out, they're off the job,” Stanley said.
Workers at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich Hotel also went on strike. That strike lasted three days, but workers have not yet gotten a better contract from their employers.
Union officials say additional strikes there are possible. The strikes overall are part of a nationwide coordinated effort by workers in the hotel industry for better wages, as many complain of low pay and harsh working conditions.
Omni Hotels, which owns the New Haven location, issued a statement on Thursday evening, saying they remain committed to bargaining in good faith, while noting that "unfortunately, as has occurred recently in other markets, the union has determined that a strike is in its interest."
The company also stated the hotel continues to operate despite many workers walking off the job.
"In view of this labor action, the hotel has put in place plans to ensure services are not interrupted and that our guests will continue to experience the genuine hospitality, personalized service and elevated experiences that are the hallmark of the Omni New Haven Hotel."
More workers are organizing, but they are also outliers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 3.4% of all workers in the leisure and hospitality industries were represented by unions in 2023, the same rate in 2022.
According to the BLS, teachers and librarians had some of the highest unionization rates at over 30% this year.
But more workers in Connecticut are unionizing. BLS figures also show nearly 16% of workers in Connecticut became union members in 2023, nearly two percentage points higher than the over 14% just a year prior.
Eugene Scott, who works as a bellman at the Omni New Haven Hotel, said he wants to go back to work, provided the hotel meets workers' requests halfway.
“We do what we have to do out here, and hopefully we can settle this thing and we all can be very happy,” Scott said.
This story has been updated.
