Six down, 14 more hotel contracts to go.

Unite Here Local 5 workers overwhelmingly ratified a new contract Friday with the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort &Spa. The union now has 14 more expired hotel contracts to negotiate during this bargaining cycle, which started with 20 hotels.

The new Waikiki Beach Marriott contract covers approximately 500 workers and averts the possibility of a strike at the property. The hotel’s workers had authorized a strike on Sept. 10 but did not participate in a 51-day strike involving 2,700 other hotel workers at the Marriott-managed, Kyo-ya Hotels &Resorts- owned Royal Hawaiian hotel, the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani, the Sheraton Waikiki, the Moana Surfrider and the Sheraton Maui.

That strike ended Nov. 28 with ratification of a contract that gave union members up to $6.13 an hour in pay and benefit hikes over four years. The Waikiki Beach Marriott contract is modeled after that one, which also included job security protections, a reduced workload for housekeepers and the establishment of a child/ elder care fund.

“This vote shows that we’re united in our belief that one job should be enough to live in Hawaii,” said Chester Corpuz, a Waikiki Beach Marriott housekeeper, in a statement. “We want to thank the Kyo-ya strikers for fighting for all of Hawaii’s workers and for showing us that through the union, we can make our ‘One Job’ campaign a reality. This is a victory that will impact not just us, but the whole community.”

The Waikiki Beach Marriott ratification vote coincided with Chris Tatum’s final day as area general manager at Marriott Resorts Hawaii. Tatum, who has been tapped to lead the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, said it was gratifying to finish his run at Marriott with a new union agreement.

Tatum got his start in the industry while in high school working as a houseman at The Royal Hawaiian. His first job after graduating from Michigan State University was as an assistant housekeeping manager at the Maui Marriott. Housekeepers are the largest class of hotel workers represented by Local 5.

“My driving force after 37 years is my staff. We’ve been very successful in business and we’ve done a good job taking care of our customers,” Tatum said. “As much as success motivates me from a professional standpoint, it’s always been more about making sure my folks are taken care of. I’m used to working with the unions. At the end of the day, we are trying to accomplish the same things.”