Those striking include housekeepers, cooks and servers. Hilton employees are among 8,000 other hotel workers in the Chicago area whose contracts expired in August 2009. The union is outraged, saying Hilton finagled $180 million in bailout funds but is still squeezing workers to do more work without proper compensation.
Hilton released a statement saying that the work stoppages will do nothing to bring them closer to a contract, and that the Hilton employees are currently well taken care of. The hotel says it is operating as usual.
The South Michigan Avenue Hilton was the only local Hilton experiencing a walkout.
