Workers at the Hilton Garden Inn in Center City could soon strike
Unite Here Local 274 has been negotiating for new contracts for workers across several Philadelphia hotels for over a year. The Hilton Garden Inn is the last one without a deal.
Dozens of workers at the Hilton Garden Inn hotel in Center City are ready to strike.
The workers, who are represented by Unite Here Local 274, voted earlier this month to authorize a strike if their union calls for it. Workers voted on a single day at the hotel, according to Mat Wranovics, a union spokesperson, who didn’t specify when that happened or how many workers voted but noted it was “a supermajority.” The union represents 48 workers at the hotel, and 96% of those who voted supported a strike.
Wranovics added that the union is not sharing further information about strike plans at this time.
Unite Here Local 274 has been bargaining for new contracts since spring 2025 for room attendants, cooks, servers, bartenders, dishwashers, and banquet staff across several hotels in Philadelphia. Workers at some of those hotels have gone out on multiday strikes since then, and all of the union hotels that are part of the bargaining except for the Hilton Garden Inn have reached a deal that includes improvements to wages and workloads. The most recent union contract at the Hilton Garden Inn expired in 2024.
“This hotel has dragged its feet for too long. We are ready to walk,” Andre Williams, hotel worker said in a statement shared by the union. “This is a union hotel in a union city. It’s a no-brainer that we should be at the union standard.”
GF Hotels & Resorts, which operates the hotel, and ACRES Commercial Realty, which owns the hotel, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Across the other hotels that now have new union contracts with Unite Here Local 274, a standard has been set for wages and benefits. New union contracts include raises to $30 an hour by 2028 for employees who do not receive tips and an increase in employer contributions to worker pensions. The new contracts also cap the number of rooms a worker can be tasked with cleaning to 15 per day.
Since bargaining began at the Hilton Garden Inn, sticking points have emerged around wages and workload improvements, said Wranovics. According to the union, hotel management walked away from negotiations in March and laid off six employees.
The Hilton Garden Inn, located at 1100 Arch St., has been listed for sale by ACRES, but the Philadelphia Business Journal reported in August that the company has faced difficulties selling it because the hotel lacks a union contract with workers.
