Thousands of hotel workers in San Francisco, San Mateo, and San Jose continued their picket lines on Monday as part of a nationwide three-day strike.

According to Lizzy Tapia, president of Unite Here Local 2, the strike began on Sunday with 2,080 workers from hotels including the Grand Hyatt SFO, Grand Hyatt Union Square, Hilton Union Square, Westin St. Francis, and Palace Hotel. In San Jose, 380 workers from the DoubleTree by Hilton and Signia by Hilton also went on strike on Sunday, as reported by Unite Here Local 19.

The strike follows unsuccessful contract negotiations that have dragged on for months. Contracts at several major hotels, including Hilton Union Square, Parc 55, Marriott Marquis, Marriott Union Square, Palace Hotel, Grand Hyatt Union Square, Hyatt Regency Embarcadero, and Westin St. Francis, expired on August 14. Additionally, contracts at five hotels in San Jose expired on June 30, with two of those hotels joining the strike on Sunday.

The strike aims to pressure the hotel chains after two months of fruitless negotiations. A union vote to authorize the strike, held on August 9, showed 94% support among members.

The union, representing housekeepers, cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders, and bellmen, is seeking wage increases, pension enhancements, protections against excessive workloads, and maintenance of health insurance benefits. Similar strikes are occurring in other regions across the country.