LABOR Hotel CEOs Prioritize Their Own Paychecks, Not Improvements for Their Companies or Workers

Labor disputes are continuing to rage between unionized hotel workers and the bosses at three major chains: Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt.

Over Labor Day weekend, more than 10,000 UNITE HERE members went on strike at 25 hotels in nine cities after months of unresolved contract negotiations. While most are back on the job for now, they’re urging guests not to patronize any of their target hotels until the union secures good new contracts. 

Among the workers’ key demands: higher wages in line with the rising cost of living, fair staffing and workloads, improved benefits, and a reversal of pandemic-era cuts.

Of course the companies are claiming they can’t afford to meet the union demands. But a hard look at these hotels’ spending practices shows they’ve had no shortage of extra cash when it comes to enriching those at the top.

Hilton, Marriott, and Hyatt have blown $16 billion combined on stock buybacks over the past five years. This shady financial maneuver artificially inflates the value of a company’s shares. This, in turn, inflates the value of the stock-based pay that makes up about 80 percent of CEO compensation.

To put that buyback outlay in perspective, it’s about four and a half times as much as these three hotel giants spent during this period on long-term capital expenditures, such as technology upgrades, hotel improvements, and other investments needed for long-term competitiveness.

The hotel chains’ spending on CEO pay-inflating stock buybacks amounted to 16 times as much as their contributions to employee retirement funds over the past five years.

It’s hardly a surprise that the gaps between CEO and worker pay at these firms are gigantic.

The three men at the helms of Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt each made more than $20 million last year, while median pay for their workers ranged from $44,805 at Marriott to $48,435 at Hilton. The CEO-worker pay ratios at these firms ranged from 460 to 1 at Hyatt to 549 to 1 at Hilton.

The CEOs at the major hotel corporations are clearly fixated on artificially pumping up their own paychecks rather than on long-term prosperity for their workers – or for their companies.

This focus on short-term windfalls for a few at the top will undercut enterprise effectiveness and our broader economy in the long run.

If we want a strong economy for all, we should support workers like those at the big hotel chains who are demanding a fair reward for their labor.

Sarah Anderson directs the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.