Posts tagged hotels
Big labor torching World Cup tourism with sky-high hotel prices and looming layoffs
June 30, 2026 // HTC’s president may get the credit for negotiating this latest contract, but his nearly $1 million compensation package is largely insulated from these economic setbacks. Meanwhile, the workers whose dues pay his salary will bear the long-term consequences of the deal. World Cup visitors may be the first to feel the pain of higher room rates, but hotel workers could end up being hit the hardest by seeing their shifts reduced, or worse, having their jobs disappear.
LA hotels hit by largest job losses in a decade as ‘Olympic wage’ mandates bite, data shows
June 11, 2026 // "This is the largest year-over-year drop in the hotel industry in a decade (barring losses related to COVID)," the EPI noted in its report. "While countywide the minimum wage reached $17.81 an hour last year (higher than the state’s $16.50 hourly mandate), the City of Los Angeles also increased its hotel-specific minimum wage mandate up to $22.50 an hour."
Several Philly hotels could see workers strike next month as FIFA and America’s big birthday grow near
May 27, 2026 // Their strike deadline falls just before two long-anticipated tourism events. Philadelphia is hosting visitors for the FIFA World Cup games, which begin June 14. And Philadelphia is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence throughout the year, with events clustered around the July Fourth holiday. “If we have to, we are prepared to strike all the way through the World Cup, all the way through the 4th of July,” Maciah Magloughlin, who works at the Wyndham Historic District, said in a union statement. “We want this summer to be one for the history books. But its success will not be on the backs of hotel workers.” The remaining five hotels where a contract has not been reached are: Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown, Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District, Hilton Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing, the Warwick Hotel Rittenhouse Square Philadelphia, and Hilton Garden Inn Philadelphia Center City.
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.
N.Y.C. Hotel Housekeepers Will Earn Over $100,000 Under New Contract
May 19, 2026 // “They’re going to try to offset that by raising rates,” he said. But how successful they would be is unclear, given that New York City already has the highest average room rates of any big city in the United States, at about $335 a night, Mr. Pequeno said. In the past year, New York hotels have also had the nation’s highest occupancy rate, at about 84 percent, he said. The agreement between the hotel workers and the industry comes about six weeks before the expiration of the current 14-year contract. For more than a year, union officials had been preparing for a strike in early July, just before the celebration of the 250th birthday of the United States and the final of FIFA’s World Cup tournament at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
LA hotels face financial strain exacerbated by city policy shifts: report
April 13, 2026 // Increasing labor expenses are a major concern for hoteliers nationwide, as total salaries, wages and benefits paid by U.S. hotels are projected to increase approximately 3% year over year in 2026 amid a weakened performance cycle. In Los Angeles, however, local legislation is exacerbating this challenge, hoteliers reported. Last year’s passage of the Citywide Hotel Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance, in particular, has forced local hoteliers “to make serious changes to maintain business operations,” according to the report. For example, 88% of hotel stakeholders said they have reduced staffing or hours in the past year as a result of LA city council policies, per the report.
Mayor Lurie tells S.F. departments to plan for 500 job cuts as labor battles intensify
March 7, 2026 // Mayor Daniel Lurie was already in a tough spot with San Francisco labor unions Monday when his administration delivered a sobering message: City Hall needs to eliminate hundreds of jobs. At least 500 positions are on the chopping block as the city seeks to reduce its spending on salary and benefits by $100 million, according to Lurie’s budget director Sophia Kittler. She told departments in an email that San Francisco “cannot afford to sustain current spending on personnel costs” as it works to eliminate the recurring deficits that have plagued the city since the pandemic.
2028 Olympics could bring big wins for Los Angeles labor unions
January 25, 2026 // “We are going to have a force ... of working people to do whatever it takes, including striking if we have to during the Olympics in 2028,” Petersen said. “The Olympics can’t happen without the workers.” A coalition of labor groups, community organizations and religious institutions are pushing for the Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee — known as LA28 — and the city to pay for building 50,000 housing units, pass a moratorium on short-term rentals like Airbnb, and protect immigrant workers.
Powerful union demands ‘New Deal’ for the 2028 LA Olympic Games, threatens to strike
August 25, 2025 // They're asking the International Olympic Committee and private Olympics organizer LA28 to give $5 billion to build housing in Los Angeles. They're also demanding a citywide moratorium on Airbnb, and want the International Olympic Committee to end its partnership with the short-term rental giant. Unite Here Local 11 announced the "New Deal for Our Future" campaign alongside other unions and community groups Thursday morning outside the Coliseum, which will co-host the Opening Ceremonies.
Los Angeles tourism industry and labor unions brawl ahead of 2028 Olympics
July 1, 2025 // After the city council passed a $30 minimum wage law in late May for workers in the airline, hotel and hospitality industries, a group of business interests — signed by players in the local hospitality industry and funded by major airlines and industry groups like Delta, United and the American Hotel & Lodging Association — launched a referendum effort to challenge the new law. “We’re giving everything we have to make this business work, to claw out of the hole that was created by COVID,” said Greg Plummer, a referendum proponent who runs a 250-employee concession company at LAX. “Our airports are still down substantially in traffic. Tourism is completely down, and the fires didn’t help … it gets to a point where it’s going to crumble a lot of small businesses.”