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1. Hotel strikes end in San Francisco with new Hilton contracts
The Unite Here Local 2 union in San Francisco voted to ratify new contracts for the San Francisco Hilton Union Square and Hilton's Parc 55, ending a 93-day-long strike in the city, according to a news release. Union members voted 99.4% in favor of a new deal that covers health insurance, provides an immediate $3 an hour wage increase, adds protections against understaffing, increases pensions and runs for four years.
The new contracts cover about 900 workers between the two hotels. These are the last contracts to be signed following strikes that started Sept. 22 and grew to about 2,500 workers across the city. The union also voted in favor of new contracts with hotels operated by Marriott International and Hyatt Hotels Corp. within the past few days.
2. Owner of Turkish hotel collapsed by earthquake sentenced to jail
Three people connected to the Isias Grand hotel in Turkey were sentenced to jail in relation to the collapse of the hotel caused by an earthquake in 2023, the BBC reports. The collapse killed 72 people.
The owner, Ahmet Bozkurt, and architect, Erdem Yilmaz, each received a sentence of 18 years and five months. The owner's son, Mehmet Fatih, received 17 years and four months. They were convicted of "causing the death or injury of more than one person through conscious negligence," the BBC reports, citing official news agency Anadolu.
The hotel, located in the city of Adiyaman in southeastern Turkey, was hosting a school volleyball team from northern Cyprus and some tour guides at the time of the earthquake.
3. US hotel deals pick up the pace in 2024
Higher cost of capital and a wider bid-ask spread led to a slower start for U.S. hotel transactions this year, but several factors combined to drive more deals as the year progressed, HNN reports. Industry experts believe 2025 will be an even busier year, spurred on by debt maturities and renovations coming due.
Adding to that is a favorable change in attitude toward hotels as an investment vehicle. Daniel Lesser, president and CEO of LW Hospitality Advisors, said in recent years, investors in other types of commercial real estate have come to see the value in hotels, particularly through inflationary environments.
“They’re not sort of a stepchild of commercial real estate,” Lesser said. “They’re there. They’re highly desirable because of the ability to continuously change rates, which affects revenue.”
4. Cyberattack hits Japan Airlines, disrupts holiday travel
A cyberattack on Japan Airlines has disrupted operations and caused delays to its domestic and international flights early this morning, the New York Times reports. The airline said it has since restarted sales of same-day tickets and restored the system targeted in the attack. No traveler information was leaked.
Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported the attack delayed more than 40 flights at multiple airports across the country, according to the article. The airline said it canceled some domestic flights but not any of its international flights.
5. US weekly jobless claims dip by 1,000
The U.S. Department of Labor reports that initial jobless claims for the week ending Dec. 21 was 219,000, a drop of 1,000 from the previous week. The four-week moving average, which helps ease volatility in the numbers, was 226,500, an increase of 1,000.
For the week ending Dec. 14, the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.3%, a 0.1 percentage point increase compared to the previous week. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for the same week was 1.91 million, an increase of 46,000 from the previous week's revised level. This marks the highest level for insured unemployment since Nov. 13, 2021, when it was 1.97 million.