Seattle Embassy Suites Workers Go On Strike
By Jordan Bradley
Officials with the Seattle hotel worker union, Unite Here Local 8, announced a strike at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Downtown Seattle Pioneer Square in the early morning hours of June 18.
The hotel is located within walking distance of Seattle’s Lumen Field (currently known as Seattle Stadium), where 2026 FIFA World Cup matches are ongoing. The strike was announced the day before the USA vs. Australia match on June 19.
The Embassy Suites hotel currently employs 117 unionized workers.
Local 8 representatives are asking that the public not “sleep, eat or meet” at the hotel until the strike concludes. The union said it intended to establish a picket line outside the hotel on June 18.
Hotel workers at the Embassy Suites are seeking wage increases—specific dollar amounts have not been released, but Local 8 has said in previous announcements that Hilton officials offered less than a dollar per hour wage increases annually over the life of the contract. The union says the proposed wage increase is significantly less than other Hilton-owned hotels in the city received when they negotiated new contracts.
“I am striking because I don’t get enough hours, and I don’t make enough money,” said Teresa Joseph, an Embassy Suites restaurant worker and Local 8 union leader.
“I don’t have a full eight hours—only six. This isn’t livable within Seattle. I just want to be able to live in the city I work in. I take the metro from Kent every day because I can’t afford to fix my car.”
Workers are also seeking year-round healthcare coverage, protections from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agencies, and “a return to pre-pandemic staffing levels.”
ICE agents have been deployed at World Cup stadiums across the country to act as security, the agency’s Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed in May. Though the main objective of the deployed ICE agents is security, Mullin said in a May interview with CBS News that the agency’s mission of enforcing immigration and custom laws still stands.
“It’s Immigration and Custom[s] Enforcement,” Mullin told CBS News. “So what do you find at a tremendous amount of sporting events? Counterfeit products, counterfeit tickets. You have counterfeit clothing being sold on the streets.”
Still, workers at the hotel are concerned about ICE agents’ presence in the area. As part of contract negotiations, Local 8 is asking that Hilton notify employees at the Embassy Suites hotel—many of whom are immigrants, the union said—when management is aware that ICE or DHS agents are on site.
“Hotel workers who are welcoming visitors from around the world to Seattle shouldn’t have to work second and third jobs to support their families or worry about whether they will have healthcare over the slow months in winter,” said Anita Seth, President of Local 8, in a statement. “And, as a majority immigrant workforce, they deserve the peace of mind of notification from their employer if ICE or DHS is on property.”
The union workers at the hotel authorized a strike in early June, and officials told USAE at the time that no further negotiation meetings had been scheduled with Hilton officials.
A front desk agent at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in downtown Seattle hotel declined to comment on the matter and referred USAE to official Hilton channels. Hilton representatives reiterated previous statements regarding the company’s commitment to negotiating with the union in good faith.
Though it was not immediately clear how services at the hotel were being impacted by the strike, in a statement provided to USAE, a Hilton spokesperson said the company has contingency plans to “ensure operations continue to run as smoothly as possible” in the event of a strike.
The spokesperson also said: “We make every effort to maintain a cooperative and productive relationship with the union that represents some of our Team Members at Embassy Suites by Hilton Seattle Downtown Pioneer Square, and we respect the rights of both the union and our Team Members to express their views.”
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