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Chicago Hotel Service Workers Strike Continues

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Housekeepers are among the Chicago, IL, hotel workers who have been on strike since last week seeking year-round health insurance for employees laid off during the slow winter season, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Union housekeepers, doormen, cooks, and bartenders at 26 downtown Chicago hotels, all members of UNITE HERE Local 1, are on strike as they negotiate new contracts. Their last contract expired August 31. Union leaders say the current strike is the broadest coordinated hotel worker strike in the history of the city.

Four other Chicago hotels have union workers with expired contracts who, as of Wednesday, were not yet striking. Approximately 6,000 UNITE HERE Local 1 workers are covered by the expired contracts. Hotel representatives say they are disappointed the union called a strike as both sides are continuing to negotiate and have not reached an impasse.