Hundreds of Caribe Hilton, Conrad Condado Plaza and El San Juan Hotel and Casino employees on Thursday marched through the Condado, protesting low wages, poor health care benefits, abusive practices, unsanitary and unsafe working conditions, as well as violations of federal labor laws.
The protests by employees belonging to the gastronomic Union Local 610 will continue through Saturday. On Thursday, they marched from the Conrad Condado Plaza to the Radisson Ambassador hotel.
Today, at around 5 p.m., they will stage a protest in front of the Caribe Hilton hotel and on Saturday, in front of the El San Juan, union leaders said.
The workers claim they have been working without a collective bargaining agreement contract in place for several months.
“Workers at these properties are preparing for what may be a long fight against one of the richest multinational coporations in the world,” the union said in a statement issued Thursday.
The hotel properties mentioned are owned by the Blackstone Group, which purchased Hilton Hotels in 2007.
Hilton has four full-service properties in Puerto Rico — the Caribe Hilton, the Ponce Hilton and the Embassy Suites hotels in Isla Verde and Dorado. It also has mid-size brands such as the Hampton Inn Suites San Juan and the DoubleTree hotel in Condado.
Blackstone has three other local hotels in its portfolio — the Conrad Condado Plaza Hotel & Casino, El Conquistador Resort & Golden Door Spa and El San Juan Hotel & Casino, all of which have recently undergone multi-million dollar renovations.
“The company recently announced that its assets amounted to $96.3 billion as of June 30, 2009 and declared net income after taxes of $275 million in the third quarter of 2009,” said Félix Mejías, president of the union and former Conrad Condado Plaza employee.
He added that “demonstrations represent the culmination of protracted negotiations that have failed to produce a fair agreement, and the beginning of more actions, pickets and possibly a strike that could deliver a brutal blow to the tourism market here in San Juan, which has for the most part managed to escape the effect of the global downturn in tourism.”
Citing tourism industry research firm Smith Travel Research, Mejías said that this year, San Juan has reported a 5.6 percent increase in year-over-year occupancy levels.
Local 610 represents more than 1,100 workers at the Conrad, Caribe Hilton and El San Juan.