Striking workers approve new contract with two more hotels

Workers at two more downtown hotels have ratified a new contract, bringing the number of hotels affected by the labor strike down to 17.

Unite Here Local 1 — which represents the roughly 6,000 housekeepers, servers, cooks and doormen who hit the picket line outside 26 upscale Chicago hotels on Sept. 7 — announced the agreement with Hotel Allegro and Hotel Palomar on Saturday afternoon.

On Thursday, workers at seven downtown Marriott hotels ratified a new deal as well following two weeks on the picket line.

Union officials have not released details on either contract. Mayor Rahm Emanuel indicated in a statement following the Marriott agreement that workers gained year-round health care, which was a main sticking point in negotiations.

Under the workers’ previous contract, which expired at the end of August, they could be classified as full-time could but still lose benefits if they were laid off during the slow winter months. Workers have also sought wage increases, heightened job security, pensions and sick days.

Representatives for Unite Here Local 1 and the hotels, which are part of the Kimpton chain, were not immediately available for comment.

Most of the affected hotels have stayed open as the work stoppage hit during the tail end of Chicago’s busy summer travel season. About 2,000 of the strikers marched through the Loop last week.

Here’s where hotel employees have agreed to return to work:

Hotel Allegro

Hotel Palomar

Sheraton

W City Center

W Lakeshore

Westin Michigan Avenue

Westin River North

JW Marriott

Hotel Blake

Here’s where the strike continues:

Ambassador Chicago

Cambria Magnificent Mile

Crowne Plaza Hotel Chicago-Metro

Doubletree Chicago Magnificent Mile

Drake Hotel

Hampton Inn/Homewood Suites Magnificent Mile

Hilton Chicago

Holiday Inn Mart Plaza

Hyatt Regency Chicago

Hyatt Regency McCormick Place

Inn of Chicago

Kinzie Hotel

Millennium Knickerbocker

Palmer House

Ritz-Carlton Chicago

Warwick Allerton

Wyndham Grand

Here’s where the union says there “could be a strike at any time”:

Fairmont Chicago

Hotel Raffaello

Park Hyatt Chicago

Tremont Chicago Hotel at Magnificent Mile

Disclosure notice:Some labor organizations have ownership stakes in Sun-Times Media, including the Chicago Federation of Labor. Unite Here Local 1 is affiliated with the CFL.