13 Hotels Ratify Their First Contracts!
Unbelievably, during what has been one of the absolute worst times to negotiate, our Union has succeeded in getting contracts with big improvements.
“I’m incredibly proud of our legal team for blocking every attempt by employers to use this crisis to undercut the wages, benefits, and standards we’ve been fighting to establish for over 80 years,” said HTC President Rich Maroko.
In 2021 alone, the Union’s legal team won 13 first contracts for newly organized hotels. Every single one increases wages, improves benefits, and provides critical rights and job security. Take a look at what’s inside.
IMMEDIATE AND RETROACTIVE WAGE INCREASES
Even as hotels are struggling in the midst of this crisis, at each of these hotels, workers will be guaranteed yearly increases for the life of their contract.
EMPLOYEE HEALTHCARE CONTRIBUTIONS REDUCED
Reducing healthcare costs and improving benefits is a major priority for our Union. Under their new contracts, our newest members are saving as much as $283.20/month for individual healthcare coverage and $1,027.68/month for family healthcare coverage. The savings come at a key time for many members, whose families are strapped for cash.
A UNION PENSION PLAN
By the end of each contract, employers must begin contributing on behalf of each employee who chooses to enroll in one of the Union's pension plans. Unlike a 401(k) plan, with a pension, vested workers are guaranteed a defined monthly benefit in retirement. The pension is a vital component to making sure our newest members can ultimately afford to retire with dignity.
"JUST CAUSE" PROTECTIONS
Before joining our Union, workers at these hotels were “at-will employees”, meaning they could be disciplined or even fired by management for almost any reason – or for no reason at all. Now, they are protected by the "just cause" standard. This means management must justify disciplining or firing an employee and the Union has the ability to challenge whether the discipline issued was fair and reasonable under the circumstances.
GRIEVANCE AND ARBITRATION RIGHTS
The grievance and arbitration process is the backbone of every union contract, providing the Union with a mechanism to enforce all of the rights, protections and benefits contained within it. This provision enables union workers, delegates, officers, and attorneys to effectively and quickly, resolve workplace issues, and in the event management and the Union are unable to resolve a grievance to bring the case before a neutral third-party called an arbitrator.
NO SUBCONTRACTING UNION WORK
Subcontracting is a dangerous practice that many hotels use to save money by firing existing employees and replacing them with those from an agency. Under no circumstances can management at these hotels subcontract out our newest members' jobs.
SUCCESSORS & ASSIGNS
Hotels change hands constantly and without the Union, workers generally have no job security. This important contract language requires that in the event a hotel changes ownership and/or management companies, they keep the existing employees and the union contract.
RECALL RIGHTS (WITH NO EXPIRATION)
These members now have layoff and recall rights that require management to give them notice of a future layoff and guarantee their right to be recalled to the job as soon as their work is available again – never has this been as important as during the mass layoffs brought on by COVID-19.
PROHIBITION OF OVERTIME DURING A LAYOFF
This language helps make sure as many members are recalled to work as possible by preventing management from assigning overtime while any worker in that same classification is on layoff.
BETTER OVERTIME LANGUAGE
Under the law, workers are entitled to overtime after 40 hours in a week. Our contracts provide for far better including daily overtime, weekly overtime, and for any hours worked on a 6th or 7th consecutive day – even when a worker doesn’t work over 40 hours that week.
PREMIUM PAY FOR PART-TIME EMPLOYEES
Workers must now get premium pay when management assigns them less than a full week’s worth of work. This premium pay both discourages the hotel from creating a part-time work force and blunts the financial impact on a worker who is on a reduced work week.
PAID BENEFIT DAY RATE FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES
We recognize that gratuities are a large part of a tipped employee’s wage, and our contracts ensure that they don’t make substantially less money when they take a well-earned day off (and miss the opportunity to earn tips).
ENHANCED HEALTH & SAFETY PROTECTIONS
Workers at each of these hotels now have the right to raise health and safety concerns (including those not covered by OSHA) without any fear of retaliation. Under our contracts, the Union can respond to these reports quickly and bring in outside experts to conduct an investigation.
SENIORITY RIGHTS
By establishing seniority as the objective standard for things including work assignments, vacation time, and overtime, our newest members are now protected against management favoritism.
PROTECTIONS FOR IMMIGRANT WORKERS
Our newest members now have strong protections in matters regarding their immigration status. Their employers cannot misuse immigration laws to threaten or retaliate against workers.
UNION SCHOLARSHIP FUND
By the end of each of these contracts, the hotels will begin paying into the Union’s Scholarship Fund and their children can apply for college scholarships.
NO LOSS OF WAGES OR BENEFITS
These new contracts can only make things better, not worse. In the unlikely event that any worker currently enjoys something better than the contract provides, our contracts say they can keep it.
UNION VISITATION RIGHTS
Union representatives can now access these hotels at any time to ensure, among other things, that management is respecting the contract and the workers have a safe workplace.
