Hundreds of Hilton Chicago Hotel workers went on strike this weekend, a protest that is expected to last until Tuesday. Hotel employees citywide, represented by UNITE-HERE Local 1, have been working without a contract for over one year. The walkout was prompted by news that the private equity firm Blackstone Group, which owns the hotel chain, was only forced to repay to the federal government $142 million of the $320 million it took in as part of the federal bailout program. "The bailout money was supposed to protect jobs," said Sherri Steverson, a Hilton room attendant, "but Hilton is destroying them."