Sheraton and Hampton hotel workers are on strike in Center City

The Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown and the Hampton Inn Philadelphia Center City union hotel staff walked out of work and onto picket lines Sunday morning, two weeks after Sheraton workers voted to authorize a strike.

The union wants to lock in a new contract ahead of the 2026 tourist season in Philly, which they expect will drive up company profits and strain hotel staff. Approximately 190 union members are striking.

Sheraton and Hampton workers make up about 20% of the room attendants, cooks, banquet staff, bartenders, dishwashers, and servers represented by Unite Here Local 274 in Philadelphia. The workers, at eight different hotels, are currently negotiating contracts.

Sheraton and Hampton hotel employees are seeking wage and pension increases, more healthcare coverage, and staffing increases, the union said in a news release.

A spokesperson for the Downtown Sheraton said in a statement emailed to The Inquirer that the company was “disappointed” the union had decided to call a strike, but that it was prepared to ensure the hotel would continue to serve guests. “We remain committed to negotiating in good faith to reach a fair and reasonable agreement that is in the best interests of our associates and their livelihoods,” the statement reads.

Representatives for Blackstone Inc.’s real estate investment trust, which owns the Hampton, were not immediately available to comment Sunday.

Philadelphia has several high-profile events scheduled for next year, including the FIFA World Cup at Lincoln Financial Field, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park, and the city’s celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary. Union organizer Dermot Delude-Dix said that all translates into more work for hotel staffers.

“It’s going to be a blockbuster tourism year,” Delude-Dix said. “We need to lock in our gains now.”

About 12,000 hotel workers went on strike last year across the country, obtaining pay raises that took them above $30 per hour, Delude-Dix said. Sheraton staff are currently at $22.11, and are seeking a similar pay increase, he said.

Outside the Sheraton Downtown, housekeeping worker Katrina Quarles said one of the union proposals that would change her life doesn’t even involve increasing her pay.

Quarles said her job involves “turning over” 16 hotel rooms every day: changing out linens, cleaning each room, and getting them up to standard for the next guest.

“It’s very strenuous work,” said the 43-year-old from Fishtown. No matter how messy each room is, each housekeeping worker has 30 minutes to do this job, she said.

“The airline people are usually neat,” Quarles said, speaking of the flight attendants and pilots who regularly stay at the hotel. “If we got a room of soccer kids, that’s going to take 45 minutes.”

If the worker doesn’t do it in time, they can be “written up” by management, which sets the housekeeping staff up for failure, Quarles said.

Turning over 16 rooms per day leaves her a half hour for lunch if everything goes perfectly. The union’s proposal would reduce her workload from 16 rooms to 15.

Sheraton banquet steward Shafeek Anderson said adequate staffing levels are a top concern of his. He said the staff members per shift have gradually declined over the last five years, putting pressure on workers who oversee a banquet hall that this weekend was accommodating 1,300 people for a fan convention for the TV show Supernatural.

“We’re working harder, but we don’t have the staffing to keep up with that work,” said Anderson. He’s 27, but said that many of his colleagues are older people often pushed to their physical limits.

The strike may mark an uptick in hotel union activity in the city ahead of 2026. Terrence Jones, a banquet hall worker at Hilton Garden Inn, joined the striking workers as they circled the Sheraton on Sunday.

Hilton isn’t on strike, Jones said. “Not yet, but we are working without a contract right now,” he added.