Several Philly hotels could see workers strike next month as FIFA and America’s big birthday grow near

Workers employed at five Philadelphia hotels could go on strike next month if their union and employers can’t agree on a new contract.

About 600 members of Unite Here Local 274 work at these hotels. The union says they will walk off the job if an agreement is not reached by June 12.

Workers at two of the five hotels have already voted to authorize a strike, union president Rosslyn Wuchinich said Thursday, adding that the remaining three are scheduling strike authorization votes.

Their strike deadline falls just before two long-anticipated tourism events. Philadelphia is hosting visitors for the FIFA World Cup games, which begin June 14. And Philadelphia is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence throughout the year, with events clustered around the July Fourth holiday.

“If we have to, we are prepared to strike all the way through the World Cup, all the way through the 4th of July,” Maciah Magloughlin, who works at the Wyndham Historic District, said in a union statement. “We want this summer to be one for the history books. But its success will not be on the backs of hotel workers.”

Over a year ago, Unite Here Local 274 began negotiations for new contracts across several Philadelphia hotels. Since then, new contracts have been adopted at three of those hotels: Hampton Inn Philadelphia Center City — Convention Center, Sonesta Philadelphia Rittenhouse Square, and the Sheraton Philadelphia University City Hotel.

The remaining five hotels where a contract has not been reached are: Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown, Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District, Hilton Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing, the Warwick Hotel Rittenhouse Square Philadelphia, and Hilton Garden Inn Philadelphia Center City.

» READ MORE: Hotel workers want better pay ahead of Philly’s big tourism year

In large part, the union is bargaining not with the well-known hotel brands, but with hospitality management companies that function as the employers.

“We respect our team members’ rights to engage in legally protected activities and look forward to reaching a fair contract,” said a statement from Aimbridge Hospitality, the hospitality management company for the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel and the Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District. “While discussions are ongoing, we remain committed to ensuring our guests enjoy their stay.”

The other hospitality management companies involved in negotiations with the union could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday about how contract negotiations are going and the strike deadline.

At Hampton Inn, the Sonesta Rittenhouse Square, and the Sheraton University City, where union members recently got new contracts, non-tipped workers will see wages rise to $30 an hour by 2028, which is over a 35% increase according to the union. Employer contributions to workers pensions also increased, and workers cannot be assigned more than 15 rooms to clean — the cap used to be 16.

Hotel workers employed at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown and the Hampton Inn went out on strike for four days in early October 2025. Workers at the Wyndham Historic District went out on a multiday strike the following month.

“We are not interested in disrupting the World Cup or the celebrations on the 250th anniversary,” Wuchinich said Thursday. “But it’s also unacceptable for these private equity owners, banks, and real estate investment trusts to be taking so much profit out of this opportunity in our city, while workers are unable to pay their bills and take care of their families.”