Christina Lee, Head Photography Editor

Raquel Corona has worked for the Omni New Haven Hotel for 20 years. Due to inflation and stagnant pre-pandemic wages, buying basic groceries for her family is still a financial burden.  

“It makes me really sad, because for 20 years, whenever they have needed me, I’ve been there,” Corona said in Spanish through a translator. “But now we have these needs, and those are not being reciprocated.” 

Omni hospitality workers have started the second day of their strike, which began at 5 a.m. on Thursday. The strike comes after 10 months of unsuccessful contract negotiations between UNITE HERE Local 217 and the Omni hotel. The vote to authorize a strike took place on Aug. 7, when it was unanimously passed by the union workers.

Over 100 supporters joined workers on the picket line on Thursday, local 217 secretary-treasurer Josh Stanley announced to the crowd in the late afternoon. Connecticut Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, New Haven Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers and the Rev. Scott Marks of New Haven Rising rallied behind Omni workers. 

In a press release, Stanley stated that Omni’s failure to increase wages and benefits for its workers was the crux of the decision to strike.

“Here in New Haven we are living in a contradiction,” Stanley wrote in the press release. “The hotel industry is making massive profits; New Haven is being written up as a thriving city; and yet workers at the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale are poorer than they were in 2020 in relation to the cost of living.”

Local 217 announced in their press release that picketing will continue for up to 24 hours a day until needs are met. Ian Dunn, a UNITE HERE organizer, told the News on Thursday morning that workers plan to be on the picket line from 5 a.m. until midnight or until hotel management satisfies the strikers’ demands.

UNITE HERE unions have been striking at hotels throughout the country — including a Labor Day strike in which more than 10,000 workers participated in Greenwich, Conn., Boston and beyond.

Carla Vallati, a room attendant who has been working at the Omni for nine years, said that workers were holding out for fair wages, better healthcare and a stronger pension. Vallati published an op-ed with the News on Wednesday urging the Yale community to support the strikers’ mission. 

“For me personally, I absolutely love my job, and I’m just looking for the same love in return,” Vallati said. “The same dedication that I put in — I’d like to see some of it back.”

In addition to shouldering financial insecurity, Corona told the News that her stress from her job follows her home. Corona alleged that Omni does not always provide her with the trash bags to perform basic cleaning tasks. 

The News was not able to immediately reach Omni management for comment. When News reporters attempted to get contact information for Omni leadership on Thursday, they were told that the hotel was unwilling to provide comment at the time. 

In a speech to an energetic crowd of Omni employees, Board of Alders President Walker-Myers voiced her solidarity with the workers.

“One job should be enough,” Walker-Myers said through the megaphone. “People should be able to afford health care. They should be able to be able to take care of their family and if Omni is not standing up to that standard, that’s why we’re out here. We gotta fight.”

Bysiewicz, in her speech, extended her support to Omni workers, as well as labor unions across the state fighting for fair contracts. She noted that much of the workers powering the hospitality industry are women, and emphasized that women bear the brunt of a lack of fair contracts.

“I’m prepared to strike as long as it takes,” Vallati said. “I think we’re well worth what we’re asking for, and I don’t know what else to do at this point … I definitely didn’t want to come to here, but we’re here”

Sen. Chris Murphy and Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut are slated to support protesters on the picket line later today.