We stand united, 40,000 strong.
The Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, AFL-CIO is the union for hotel and gaming workers in New York and New Jersey.
What is a union?
A union is a non-profit organization, created by workers, that exists to give working people power and a voice that they could never have alone. In our case, we are the union representing 40,000 hotel and gaming workers in New York and New Jersey.
Our mission
Our mission is to improve the lives of our members by negotiating for, protecting, and empowering workers in the hotel and gaming industries.
First and foremost, we accomplish this by using our collective power to pressure employers to sign and live up to legally binding contracts that guarantee better wages, benefits and increased legal protections.
We also use our collective power to give our members a voice in politics and push for laws to protect their jobs, create leverage at the negotiating table, and support policies that will improve the lives of working people.
Every day, unions are on the front lines in the fight for democracy and justice.
Our organization
Unions are traditionally organized by craft and trade (for example, with restaurant workers in one union and engineers in another) – but not our union. HTC represents hotel and gaming workers wall-to-wall. For hotel and gaming workers in New York and New Jersey, HTC is the union, no matter what your job classification is. It's HTC that negotiates your contract, strategically builds bargaining power, and organizes new hotels and casinos. The result of our unique structure is that, together as one union, we are able to wield even more collective power.
HTC has affiliation agreements with several locals that provide our union with additional staff, support, and strength: Local 6 (UNITE HERE), Local 94 (International Union of Operating Engineers), Local 3 (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers), Local 1422 (International Union of Painters and Allied Trades), and Local 153 (Office and Professional Employees International Union).
Who we represent
Our union represents 40,000 non-managerial hospitality and gaming employees working in every department and job classification across more than 400 hotels, casinos, racetracks, and private clubs, including: housekeeping, public space, dining room, banquet, room service, kitchen, stewarding, bar, mini-bar, audio-visual, front desk, reservations, PBX, bell and door services, concierge, night auditing, laundry, valet, engineering, maintenance, electrical, carpentry, painting, upholstery, business centers, night cleaning, health spas, security, garage, purchasing and receiving, storeroom, cage, slots, poker, table games dealers, and more.
The membership of our union is much like the city and region that we live in: tough, united, and incredibly diverse.
Our members come from many nations and backgrounds and speak more than 50 first-languages. Our members love their union, and thousands volunteer each year to build our power on the job, on the picket line, and in state and local politics. Everything we accomplish relies on having a strong, engaged membership.
Our contracts
Our union has negotiated the best contracts in the world for hotel and gaming workers. We have several master contracts based on the industry and region where our members work, as well as thousands of side agreements that supplement the master contract at each union property.
The workers represented by our union have unparalleled wages, benefits, working conditions, and rights on the job. They enjoy a middle-class lifestyle that is unheard of in an industry where workers are generally exploited and living in poverty.
It's not enough to win good contracts – we also must enforce them and make management live up to their end of the deal. This work happens every day, in every corner of our union, as Business Agents and members find and investigate contract violations, stand up to management in grievance meetings, and signal to their managers that they are loyal to the union by pinning their HTC button on their uniform.
Unlike many unions, ours is expanding.
There is strength in numbers. The more hotels and casinos that are unionized and the more workers who are part of our union, the more power we hold over the hotel and gaming industries. This is one reason why organizing workers at non-union hotels is such a high priority for our union. Over the last 15 years, our membership has grown from 25,000 to 40,000.
Our union has expanded beyond NYC to represent workers in New Jersey, Westchester, Long Island, and Upstate New York. We have also expanded into the gaming industry. When New York approved the licensing for new casinos, our union was at the helm of ensuring that these thousands of new gaming jobs would be excellent, union jobs. Today, we represent workers at all of the major casinos in New York.
Fighting for working people since 1939
Our union has a rich history of activism and uplifting working people. Throughout our history, we have been a leader in the fight for civil rights, economic justice, and protections for immigrants.