Christina Lee, Head Photography Editor

Hospitality workers at the Omni hotel went on strike Thursday morning after the hotel failed to meet the union’s Wednesday night deadline to settle a new contract.

UNITE HERE Local 217, the union representing the workers, has been in contract negotiations with the hotel since November 2023. The Omni’s last contract with its over 120 unionized housekeepers, front desk agents, cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders and bellmen — which was a pandemic-related extension of a previous contract — expired in March.

On Aug. 7, all 93 of the Omni’s workers who cast ballots in a union vote approved a strike. Now, the employees are stopping work to bargain for a greater wage increase, a stable retirement package and healthcare benefits.

“The 125 workers at the Omni Hotel took a strike vote in August. We’ve been trying to bargain a fair contract since November of last year, and today, we’re saying enough is enough,” said Josh Stanley, UNITE HERE Local 217’s secretary treasurer, at the picket line.

Stanley was among half a dozen UNITE HERE Local 217 organizers who joined about 12 hotel employees assembled outside of the hotel’s main entrance on Temple Street for the strike’s commencement at 5 a.m.

While union organizers set up a tent with breakfast food and coffee, workers grabbed signs and marched in a loop in front of the hotel’s main entrance, chanting “If we don’t get no contract, you won’t get no peace.” At times, they swapped the word “contract” for the word “respect.”

The workers plan to be on the picket line from 5 a.m. until midnight or until hotel management satisfies the strikers’ demands , according to UNITE HERE organizer Ian Dunn.

Omni management could not be immediately reached for comment. 

Inside the Omni’s lobby, framed letters to guests addressing the work stoppage signed by the hotel’s general manager, David Han, sat on the front desk. The letter described “temporary modifications” to the hotel’s services during the strike. Today, guests at the Omni can eat a continental grab-and-go breakfast and attend an evening Wine Hour in the lobby. Though the hotel’s bar, Bar 19, will be open for shortened hours with a limited food menu, the hotel’s restaurant — and room service — are closed.

“Please note that these adjustments are temporary and specific to the current situation with the labor union negotiations,” Han wrote. “They are not a permanent change to our brand-wide offerings.”

A receptionist at the front desk told the News that the messages were put out around 4:40 a.m. that morning.

Of the most frequented hotels in downtown New Haven, the staffs of The Graduate and the Omni are unionized and represented by UNITE HERE.

This is a developing story.