SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Thousands of housekeepers, cooks and other workers at Marriott-affiliated hotels went on strike in San Francisco and San Jose on Thursday after months of negotiations for job security, a wage increase and what unions call work overloads.

About 2,500 Marriott hotel workers picketed outside at least seven hotels in downtown San Francisco, the heart of the city’s tourist area. The hotels include the Ritz-Carlton, the Palace Hotel, the W Hotel and the Marriott Marquis. Another 200 walked out in San Jose, said Unite Here union spokeswoman Rachel Gumpert.

Hotel workers walked out at seven Marriott hotels in Boston on Wednesday in what union organizers said was that city’s first hotel union strike. Strikes have also been authorized in Honolulu, San Diego, Detroit, Seattle and Oakland and workers could walk out at any time, Gumpert said.

In Honolulu, UNITE HERE Local 5 had not decided whether to strike, said spokeswoman aola Rodelas, a union spokeswoman.

“We haven’t done it yet,” Rodelas said. “We don’t know if or when.”