San Diego’s hotel workers union, already five weeks into a walkout at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, will hold a strike authorization vote Friday for another Hilton property — the Hotel Del Coronado.

The existing two-year contract for the luxury resort’s 800 workers is due to expire at the end of this month, and union leadership says it’s frustrated that no bargaining session has been scheduled despite repeated requests.

“We asked for negotiations in the middle of September and we had no response so we think the hotel isn’t taking us seriously,” said Unite Here Local 30 President Brigette Browning. “We want to be prepared to go on strike if necessary when the contract expires.”

Hilton representatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the Union-Tribune .

The current contract, which was finalized in October of 2022 and expires Oct. 31, guaranteed an hourly raise of $2 for each of two years for non-tipped workers like housekeepers and front desk clerks. Housekeepers currently earn $24.25 an hour; mid-tier cooks $25.65, and front desk agents $24.25, Browning said.

The union has not submitted any kind of opening proposal or demand because no bargaining talks have been scheduled. The Hotel Del Coronado, which has undergone a multi-year $550 million renovation, is part of the Curio Collection by Hilton, with the exception of its condo-style residences that are now under management of Hilton’s luxury brand, LXR Hotels & Resorts.

“It’s hard to say what we’re seeking,” Browning said. “We just think it’s a bad sign they haven’t agreed to come to negotiations. We send emails and they didn’t even respond. The workers are very angry so I think we’ll have a successful vote. I think they should be the industry leader for (labor) contracts because they make more money than any of our other (union) properties.”

While currently at a standstill, talks between Unite Here and Hilton San Diego Bayfront began months before the workers’ contract expired Aug. 31, Browning said. A bargaining session was held Saturday, which the union described as productive, although wage issues remain unresolved and no new sessions have been scheduled, Browning reported.

Progress, she said, was made on largely non-economic issues like time and attendance policy, housekeeping workload, holiday pay and a graveyard shift differential.

‘It was positive, but the ball is in their court for them to come up with some money,” Browning said.

Unite Here’s opening offer to the Hilton Bayfront hotel sought a $5 hourly pay hike each year over three years for non-tipped employees, which includes housekeepers, stewards, cooks and front desk agents. The average housekeeper at the Hilton Bayfront currently earns $24 an hour.

The last time Hotel Del Coronado workers were on the verge of a walkout was in 2019 when hundreds of employees who had been without a contract for nearly a year, authorized their union leadership to call a strike should a walkout become necessary. A new contract was finalized not long after that vote, Browning said.

In 2000, Hotel Del workers staged a one-day strike to protest a contract dispute that had gone on for months.