Thousands of hotel workers voted overwhelmingly on Monday to strike dozens of Chicago's most prestigious hotels later this month if management fails to offer a fair settlement by August 31, the day their contract expires. The potential strike pits roughly 7,000 housekeepers, bellhops, cooks and other workers with HERE -- Hotel and Restaurant Employees Local 1 -- against a management negotiating team that one worker has described as being �in denial� about workers� commitment to fight to end starvation wages and deficient 'benefit' packages. Read more.

Chicago hotel workers trail far behind other major metropolitan areas in pay and benefits. Click here to listen to Pacifica's Free Speech Radio News coverage of Local 1's battle for a living wage.