Posts tagged hospitality workers
Whistleblower Bombshell Shakes Midtown Hotel Union As Owners Quietly Dig In
May 26, 2026 // New York hotel owners have quietly launched internal reviews after a whistleblower alleged corruption inside the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, the powerful union that represents thousands of hospitality workers across the city. The allegations surfaced this month and have hotel bosses rethinking negotiations and communications at a particularly sensitive time for the industry.
Hotel and stadium workers can refuse work if ICE is present, union says as World Cup approaches
March 25, 2026 // The union is urging hotels, stadiums and other venues not to host or provide staging areas for ICE or Border Patrol during what it calls a period of heightened public attention. If employers choose to allow federal agents on site, the union is requesting advance notice and confirmation that workers will be permitted to leave or refuse the assignment without facing disciplinary action.
Two Groups of Sofitel DC Lafayette Square Hotel Employees Officially Win Efforts to Free Themselves of Unwanted Unions
March 12, 2026 // Two separate groups of employees of Sofitel Washington DC Lafayette Square have prevailed in their battle to free themselves from the “representation” of Unite Here Local 25 and International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 99 union officials. Their victories were cemented after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) officially certified the results of their votes to remove the unions. Sofitel Lafayette employee Mwandu Chibwe spearheaded the Unite Here “decertification” effort for the more than 60 food service workers, front of house workers, room attendants, and other hospitality workers. The engineers’ and painters’ decertification of IUOE Local 99 was led by Yuri Lishchenko. Both workers received free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation.
Seamark at Encore Boston to close, less than a month after workers unionize
March 12, 2026 // Seamark Seafood & Cocktails, the ritzy seafood restaurant inside the Encore Boston Harbor casino and hotel, is closing, laying off 56 workers who voted to unionize less than a month ago. The eatery from Carver Road Hospitality is shutting down for good on March 29, nearly two years after it opened. Its reason for closing, according to is because of “economic challenges.”
SANTA MONICA: Council to Take Up Scaled Back Unionizing Ordinance
January 27, 2026 // The move to scale back the initial measure comes six months after the Council voted on July 8 to direct staff to draft an ordinance that would pave the way for unionizing businesses that lease space from the City. On August 21, nearly three dozen local businesses sent a letter to City officials warning the ordinance was "unnecessary and harmful" and comes at "the worst possible time"
Lessons from D.C.: Why “$30 by ‘30” Wage Plan Could Leave Servers with Less
October 26, 2025 // Mr. Mamdani’s plan is being aligned with a renewed push by progressive New York legislators to eliminate the tipped-wage system, which would require restaurant workers to be paid the same minimum wage as all other tipped-wage positions. Legislation has been percolating in Albany in recent years that would phase out the tipped wage by 2028, with a prominent “Living Wage for All Coalition” now launching to guide the effort to fruition. Behind the coalition is the group One Fair Wage, which has been spearheading a systematic effort to eliminate the tipped-wage system in progressive jurisdictions across America. One Fair Wage has seen success in large cities such as Chicago and Washington, D.C., but as these policies take hold, the economic reality is starting to bite.
Houston convention center workers to vote on joining strike for $23 wage
September 25, 2025 // The expected vote comes as the ongoing strike at the neighboring Hilton Americas-Houston stretches into its third week, and as city leaders plan for a $2 billion expansion of the convention center by 2028. Both facilities are owned by Houston First Corporation, the quasi-governmental entity that serves as the city's marketing arm. Houston First Corp. did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Union leaders said GRB workers have been inspired by the Hilton hotel workers' strike and are planning to advance the same $23 minimum wage demand. The lowest-paid convention center workers earn $16 an hour, more than double the state's minimum wage of $7.25, but still below some estimates for Houston's living wage.
Op-ed: Is anyone in charge of Los Angeles?
August 12, 2025 // LWithin days, the LA Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress — whose $3 million budget comes primarily from Delta Airlines, United Airlines and the American Hotel & Lodging Association — filed paperwork to put a citizen’s-veto referendum before voters in 2026. (Plummer is among the small businesspeople listed as the measure’s official proponents.) It would take 92,000 signatures to reach the ballot, but just filing the referendum had an immediate impact: delaying implementation of the law’s first planned pay increase on July 1, to $22.50 per hour. Frustrated by the possibility that years of lobbying could be wiped away with a corporate-backed campaign, organized labor launched a counteroffensive. In June, Unite Here Local 11 — which represents 32,000 workers across Southern California hotels, airports and sports arenas — filed a package of four ballot initiatives.
National Right to Work Foundation Launches Campaign to Expose Unite Here’s Bullying of Workers
May 12, 2025 // The NRLB is supposed to enforce federal labor law, including adjudicating disputes between management, union officials, and individual employees. Similar cases of UNITE HERE's malfeasance are being litigated in Washington, D.C., Boston, Seattle, and Orlando. As RedState reported, UNITE HERE Local 11 in Los Angeles struck the death knell to the 100-year-old iconic restaurant The Original Pantry Cafe, which was owned by former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan. After Riordan's passing, his trust attempted to sell the restaurant. UNITE HERE swooped in, supposedly on behalf of the workers, and instead of protecting the employees, managed to wreak havoc.
A first: Chippendales at the Rio to unionize
October 10, 2024 // The Chipps move to Equity status could trigger a series of similar efforts in shows across Las Vegas. Such production companies as Cirque du Soleil, Spiegelworld and Adam Steck’s SPI Entertainment lineup (which has “Thunder” on its roster) are non-union. But none of these casts have formally moved to organize. Nationally, Equity also represents strip-club employees, and also Disneyland character performers. Las Vegas is rife with club performers, and atmospheric entertainers (Area15 is expanding by 35 acres, for instance), eligible to seek Equity status. Equity reps clearly want the Chipps show to serve as a toe-hold to increased membership across Las Vegas. So do the dancers who voted to organize.