Jimmy Elidrissi Celebrates 50 Years on the Job at the Waldorf-Astoria

Fifty years is a good amount of time by anyone’s standards, but in an era where most kids in high school can expect to have 12 or more different employers in their lifetimes, it is truly remarkable that Jillali “Jimmy” Elidrissi recently celebrated a half-century on the job at the Waldorf-Astoria.

Members of the staff of the legendary hotel and Local 6 Vice Presidents Harry Rygor and Hazel Hazzard were on hand April 21 to honor Jimmy on his accomplishment. They weren’t the only ones. Congratulations came from as far away as Bangalore, India, where Hilton employees signed a framed poster saluting Jimmy on his feat.

Jimmy appreciated the attention, but pointed out that he was not retiring, something that is understandable since he looks young enough to put in another 50 years at the Waldorf.

“I started here when I was 20,” Jimmy said. “It’s been an honor to meet and greet so many guests and it is a pleasure to take care of them.”

Jimmy noted that there have been many times a stranger has walked up to him and said something like, “So and so from such and such told me to make sure I said hello to you when I got here.”

In recounting his five decades at the Waldorf Jimmy recalled his membership in Local 144, which became Local 758 and later merged into Local 6. “The Union has always been an important part of our working lives here,” Jimmy said. He spoke about the benefits of being a union member, telling us that his daughter, Rajaa, won a Vito J. Pitta scholarship and now works at CNBC.

Many of Jimmy’s co-workers joined in congratulating him on his golden anniversary on the job, and a number of managers did, too.
“Jimmy trained many of us,” said one manager, Diarmuid Dwyer, and he didn’t appear to be joking!

“This is a first for me to be celebrating an employee’s 50th anniversary,” said the Waldorf-Astoria’s Managing Director, Michael Hoffman. “It is an exceptional achievement.”

“You are a credit to the hotel and to our union, and we applaud your outstanding accomplishment,” Peter Ward wrote in a note to Elidrissi. Ward, who was unable to attend the ceremony due to pressing union business, added, “In a day and age when Americans coming into the workforce are told to expect to have as many as a dozen different employers in their careers, you stand as a shining example of long-term loyalty and dedicated service to a single employer, the Waldorf-Astoria, and its guests. Congratulations!”

“I have known Jimmy for many years and he exemplifies what is best about the members of our union,” Local 6 Vice President Harry Rygor said. “We are in the hospitality industry and Jimmy has now spent 50 years welcoming guests to our city and the Waldorf-Astoria and making them really glad they came here. I think I speak for all of our members when I say that we wish him the very best.”