Strikebreakers Accuse Marriott of Wage Theft

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—Temporary workers Marriott has hired to clean rooms at its seven San Francisco hotels while the 2,500 regular workers are on strike are accusing the chain of cheating them out of their pay. The company hires about 200 workers a day—mostly Latino immigrants—for $17 an hour through a contractor, Environmental Service Partners Inc., and buses them in from Salinas and Modesto, both more than 90 miles away. Carmelo, a Salinas man who asked to be identified by only his first name, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board after he was fired Oct. 30 for speaking to a UNITE HERE Local 2 organizer outside the Marriott Marquis. Carmelo said a hotel executive had accused him of being a union “spy”—and the contractor didn’t pay him for his last day of work. Another man told The Chronicle that Environmental Service Partners hasn’t paid him since he started work three weeks ago. Marriott said it requires contractors to “comply with federal and state employment laws.” The California labor commissioner’s office is investigating similar allegations against a Marriott hotel in San Diego and contractor Hotel Cleaning Services. Read more