Longest hotel workers strike
- Who
- Congress Plaza Hotel strike
- What
- 9:349 year(s):day(s)
- Where
- United States (Chicago)
- When
- 30 May 2013
On 15 June 2003, the 130 employees working at the Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, USA, downed tools owing to grievances over wages and contractual changes. The strike came to an end 9 years 349 days later on 30 May 2013, as announced by the hospitality trade union UNITE HERE Local 1.
Unite Here Local 1 President Henry Tamarin said: "The decision to end the Congress strike was a hard one, but it is the right time for the Union and the strikers to move on." At the end of the boycott, the union claimed it had found jobs for over 60 strikers and was still seeking new employment for the remaining 70 strikers.
The strike captured a lot of attention over its near-decade-long duration, including endorsement from future president (then Senator) Barack Obama.