Catherwood LibraryILR School

San Francisco workers in seven Marriott properties have agreed to a new contract that will give housekeepers a $4 wage increase over a four-year term, improved pensions, preserved lifetime health care benefits, as well as protections against sexual harassment. It ends a 9-week strike in that city, as well as a nationwide Marriott worker protest that involved 7,700 workers in several states, although the strike in San Francisco had been particularly adversarial with more than 100 union employees arrested since October 4. Housekeepers will also receive a reduced workload that increases over the life of the contract. In terms of protections against sexual harassment, employees now have the choice of not having further contact with the guest, and if the report is credible the hotel will evict the guest. All employees who deal with guests alone will receive a silent GPS-enabled panic button to summon help in unsafe situations. While the financial agreements have varied with the hotels in different cities, the sexual harassment terms are included in all contracts.