On October 23, 2024, the New York City Council passed the Safe Hotels Act. This historic legislation provides critical new protections for NYC hotel workers and guests. The bill faced fierce opposition by industry groups, hotel developers, and the owners of subcontracting agencies. But despite their deep pockets and aggressive tactics, hotel workers won.
For the first time, New York City will have a real mechanism to hold bad actors in the hotel industry accountable – whether it’s for unsanitary conditions, worker exploitation, or turning a blind eye to human trafficking and violence.
The Safe Hotels Act will require that all hotels obtain a license from the City to operate. In order to be licensed, hotels will have to implement common-sense safety protocols, including daily room cleaning; providing panic buttons to workers who enter occupied guest rooms; scheduling around-the-clock front desk or security coverage; prohibiting the subcontracting of core employees in housekeeping, front desk, and front service at most hotels; and training staff to identify human trafficking.
The Safe Hotels Act was passed despite enormous, well-funded opposition. When the bill was first introduced by Council Member Julie Menin in July 2024, the hotel industry reacted aggressively.
Employers, many of whom rely on abusive practices, banded together to fight the legislation. They raised $20 million to kill the bill and to attack any elected official who supported it. They hired dozens of high-paid lobbyists. They brought in national organizations. In the press, they tried to convince elected officials and subcontracted hotel workers that the bill would be a “job killer.” They even tried to make it seem like everyday people were behind them, forcing subcontracted workers to show up at City Hall.
On September 12, the opposition staged a rally and bussed in around 1,000 sub-contracted workers to march at City Hall. Many workers reported that they thought the event was mandatory. When asked directly, one manager at the non-union Moxy Times Square told workers that if they didn’t attend the event, “I cannot promise you that you’re not gonna get in trouble.” Some subcontracting agencies even paid employees to boost their numbers, offering: “If your friends and family sign up, they can earn up to $100-150 for the day.”
Every move the opposition made backfired spectacularly. When the opposition said they would spend millions to campaign against the bill and attack any elected official who supported it, City Council Members were so offended that the number who supported the bill doubled. When the opposition tried to stage a rally, hundreds of union members and staff greeted their employees with the truth about the bill and a flood of subcontracted workers reached out to union organizers.
Yudelina Santiago came forward about the filthy conditions she experienced while working for a subcontracting agency in 2021. “The agency didn’t provide any of us with cleaning supplies... they told us that we should use dirty guest towels and the used guest shampoo to clean the rooms. I had to wash the dishes with just hot water – no soap – because there was no dish detergent.”
In the weeks that followed, our union joined rallies and mobilized our members to call their representative in the City Council to voice support for the bill. At press conferences and hearings held by the Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection and the full City Council, hotel workers – union and non-union – bravely came forward to testify in favor of the law.
Workers spoke up about the unsanitary conditions they endured while working for subcontracting agencies, their lack of training or power to intervene during suspected incidents of human trafficking, and the dangers faced by hotel workers every day on the job.
Paula Amparo, who previously worked at the Capri Whitestone Motel where rooms were offered by the hour, took the stand to advocate for training on human trafficking. She testified in front of the City Council about her experience at the notorious “hot-sheet” motel: “Management knew who their customers were and what was going on at the hotel. They did not want anyone – not victims, not workers, not the police – to interfere with their profits... I was afraid not only for the safety of potential victims of human trafficking, but also for my own. I’m a single mom and wanted to make sure I came home from work every night. The hotel cared very little about my safety and the guests’.”
Katia, a union-represented hotel worker in downtown Manhattan, spoke up in favor of panic buttons for hotel workers citywide. “I am a room attendant, which means I am often on the hotel floors alone,” Katia shared. One night, a guest violently approached Katia as she was working in one of the rooms. “In that moment, I was terrified. I immediately pressed my panic button and security arrived right away.
"The panic button saved my life, I believe all room attendants should have this protection."
– KATIA, Room Attendant
Carmen Polanco, a Room Attendant at Star Staffing agency for over a decade, took the stand to call out the lack of basic protections for workers. “I had to clean bloody sheets with cheap gloves that broke... The room attendants were not trained to handle chemicals. I had to clean the bath- rooms with bleach and strong chemicals that made me cry. If the chemicals got on my skin, it would burn badly. Each day, I would pray that nothing would go wrong. I was so afraid that I would hurt myself.”
In 2020, hotels across the country tried to use the pandemic as an excuse to end daily room cleaning. It was a cynical attempt to reduce costs by eliminating basic amenities, and thereby saving money by laying off hotel workers. The Safe Hotels Act will require NYC hotels to stock guest rooms with fresh towels, sheets, and pillowcases and clean occupied guest rooms daily.
Julie Menin, the sponsor of the Safe Hotels Act, declared: “New York State ranks fourth in the nation for human trafficking – but no more with this bill.” Under this law, NYC hotels will be required to provide human trafficking recognition training to core employees.
Hotels will no longer be allowed to leave their premises unattended in an attempt to boost their bottom line by eliminating jobs at the expense of workers and guests. The law includes new requirements that hotels provide around-the-clock front desk services. In addition, large hotels must provide 24/7 security coverage.
In the dark underbelly of the hotel industry, subcontracting agencies are cutting corners at the expense of guests and workers. Under the Safe Hotels Act, hotels with 100 or more rooms will be required to directly employ core employees, including room attendants, housepersons, front desk employees, and bell and door staff.
Hotel operators will be required to provide panic buttons to core employees who enter occupied guest rooms. Our union has been a driving force in the adoption of panic buttons, which allow hotel workers to summon security to their exact location. Union workers have had this critical protection for more than a decade, and now, non-union workers will have it too.
Paula, Katia, and Carmen were joined by a chorus of hotel workers with similar experiences; law enforcement representatives, including all five District Attorneys’ offices; allies in the New York City labor movement; anti-trafficking advocates who refused to be silenced; and academics who have researched and shown a light on the disreputable practices that grow in the dark underbelly of the hotel industry.
"I work overnight. I came directly from my work because I strongly believe a safe working environment is important for us - for all of us, every hospitality worker who works in New York City."
– XUELI, NYC Hospitality Worker
On the other side, the owners of hotels and subcontracting agencies, real estate management companies, national hotel trade groups, and a pro-management law firm shamelessly testified against the bill, urging elected officials to prioritize their bottom lines over the safety of the human beings who work and stay in hotels.
The opposition even put agency workers before the Council to echo the lie that the Safe Hotels Act would cause the workers to lose their jobs. The Committee Chair on Consumer and Worker Protection and Safe Hotels Act Sponsor Julie Menin addressed the subcontracted workers directly after they testified, “I want to make sure that this misinformation is being addressed. I’m going to read a statement and I’m going to ask for your indulgence to translate it into Spanish because it is imperative that you all know your rights; subcontracted workers must be offered their jobs at the same or higher salary if their agency is let go.”
On the afternoon of October 23, 2024, the City Council convened for a council-wide vote on the bill. In a sweeping victory, 45 out of the 51 Council Members voted to pass the Safe Hotels Act.
On November 4, 2024, Mayor Eric Adams held a ceremony in the City Hall Rotunda to sign the Safe Hotels Act into law.
For the first time in our City’s history, all hotel workers will have the fundamental safety protections they deserve. To all of you who came out to testify, rally, and speak up for the Safe Hotels Act – thank you. You fought Goliath, and you won. You bettered the lives of hotel workers for generations to come. And you proved yet again that together, we are unbeatable.
In solidarity,
Rich Maroko
HTC President
