SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—At least 41 people were arrested for blocking traffic during a protest Oct. 12 by
more than 1,000 people striking Marriott hotel workers and supporters. UNITE HERE Local 2 representatives said the sit-in outside of the Marriott Marquis on Fourth Street downtown was an act of “mass peaceful civil disobedience.” “I took arrest for the same reason I’ve been on strike for nine days—one job should be enough for hotel workers like me,” housekeeper Candida Kevorkian told the San Francisco Chronicle. “My job at Marriott is not enough to pay the rent. Three generations of my family have to share one apartment.” More than 2,000 workers at seven Marriott hotels in the city are on strike. Local 2 president Anand Singh and Local 2850 President Wei-Ling Huber were among those arrested. “Months of bargaining with Marriott got us nowhere close to a livable income, safe workloads, or job security, and we’re not backing down,” Singh said in a statement. “We’re going to strike until Marriott hotel workers no longer have to work two or three jobs even while working for the richest hotel company on Earth.” Read more
