Business

Battery Wharf Hotel Strike Ends With Tentative Agreement

Local 26 union announced a tentative agreement with the Battery Wharf Hotel on Thursday afternoon, ending the strike at the waterfront hotel in Boston’s North End. Workers were seen celebrating outside the property, after having been on strike since September 5th. A ratification vote is scheduled for Friday, November 22nd.

Battery Wharf Hotel is owned by Canadian operator Westmont Hospitality. Approximately 75 union jobs are at stake including room attendants, bellmen, cooks, dishwashers and front desk agents. Battery Wharf employees were looking for a new contract with better pay and health insurance, protections for immigrants, African-Americans, pregnant workers, and provisions to handle sexual harassment.

Another group likely to celebrate are neighboring condo dwellers, that have generally been supportive of the workers but less so of the 7am-7pm chanting and pot-n-pan rattling. Battery Wharf Hotel encompasses the bottom three floors of the four Battery Wharf pier buildings. The top three floors of the buildings are residential condominiums.

Marriott workers went on strike last year at downtown hotels including the Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton, Westin Boston Waterfront and W Hotel. After more than a month after workers walked out, the parties agreed to a settlement largely hailed by labor leaders as a victory in significantly raising the bar for worker protections.