About 5,000 Unite Here Local 5 hotel workers are expected to take a strike vote today.

With results anticipated by 8 p.m., the vote follows what the union describes as months of “unsuccessful negotiations” with Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Kyo-ya Hotels & Resorts and Marriott International.

Affected workers are calling for the hotel industry to raise wages and reverse staffing cuts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a dire situation the union says has led to difficult conditions for both hotel workers and guests.

The union adds that a strike authorization by union members does not mean a strike will occur immediately, but the union’s negotiating committee would be authorized to call a strike at any time.

“After months of discussion, we’re tired of talking and being ignored. We love our jobs, guests and island home too much to allow outsiders to dictate to us what’s best for our community,” Cade Watanabe, financial secretary treasurer of Local 5, said in a written statement. “We need wages that do more than just help us get by; we need to thrive just as our hotel owners and operators have. And we need the proper staffing and workload to provide the level of service our island guests have come to count on.”

He added, “We need tourism to work for all of us; not just for the owners and CEOs that operate our hotels from afar, and we’re willing to do whatever it takes to make that a reality.”

Hoteliers see the situation differently, however.

Michael D’Angelo, head of labor relations-Americas, Hyatt, previously told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that, “our purpose is to care for people so they can be their best.”

“Our colleagues are the heart of our business, and their well being is always a top priority. Hyatt has a long history of cooperation with the unions that represent our employees, including Unite Here Local 5,” he said.

“Under recent collective bargaining agreements with Unite Here, Hyatt hotels continue to offer our eligible employees competitive wages and benefits, as well as comprehensive healthcare coverage,” D’Angelo said. “We look forward to continuing to negotiate a fair contract with Unite Here Local 5 and recognize the contributions of our employees.”

But according to a recent survey of nearly 4,000 Local 5 workers, 76% of them cannot afford an unexpected bill of $500.

The union adds that 78% of workers also believe their employers took advantage of the pandemic to cut payroll and make changes not beneficial to workers.

The U.S. hotel industry’s gross operating profit was over 26.6% higher in 2022 than 2019, the union states.

In Hawaii, revenue per available room increased by 23% and average daily rate of a hotel room increased by 33% in 2023 compared to 2019. Yet hotel staffing per occupied room was down 13% from 2019 to 2022 in the country, the union states.

The union asserts many hotels have kept COVID-era service cuts in place including shuttering VIP lounges, reducing and, in many cases, removing food and beverage options such as in-room dining.

Besides Honolulu, 10,000 hotel workers in Baltimore; Boston; New Haven, Conn.; Providence, R.I.; San Diego; San Francisco; San Jose, Calif.; and Seattle are also expected to hold strike authorization votes in August.

In Honolulu, actions toward a hotel strike have loomed in recent weeks.

On July 23, about 1,000 Local 5 workers picketed in front of major Waikiki hotels demanding new contracts that provide “living wages, fair workloads, and proper staffing that ensures quality service.”

The pickets took place at the Sheraton Waikiki, Royal Hawaiian, Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort & Spa, Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa and Hilton Hawaiian Village, where more than 100 red-shirted workers walked through the lobby, some yelling into megaphones and pumping their fists.

Jason Maxwell, a longtime bartender at Waikiki Beach Marriott and a member of Local 5’s negotiating committee, said hotel management has not “addressed our needs.”

He added “when we say respect our work it’s really that we’re what makes the tourism industry work in Hawaii.”

“It’s the workers that make it work,” he told the Star-Advertiser Wednesday. “And the ownership side, and the investor side, has to understand that we’ve got to get real wage increases that can keep us here and keep us from having to move away to survive.”

He stressed it’s also about “respecting our guests.”

“And that addresses our staffing,” he said. “They understaffed us a lot, and so that costs us, and it costs the tourists that are coming here, and it hurts everybody.”

The strike vote is being held at the Ala Moana Hotel’s Hibiscus Ballroom.

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Star-Advertiser staff writer Allison Schaefers contributed to this report.