Inside the Organizing Drive at the DoubleTree Newark Airport
Spring 2025
“This marks our union’s first ever NLRB election in New Jersey– a notoriously difficult process for the workers, who have to stay strong and united in the face of management’s anti-union campaign. I am proud to welcome these new members to our union."
– SAMANTHA KLEIN, HTC General Organizer
On February 27, 2025, housekeeping workers at the 500-room DoubleTree Newark Airport voted to be represented by our union. Despite an aggressive campaign, led by one of the same union-busters hired by Amazon, the workers voted for our union in a landslide: 31 YES to only 3 NO.
Enide Pierre Louis, a Room Attendant at the DoubleTree Newark Airport, was a leader in the months leading up to the NLRB election and volunteered as the union’s observer on election day.
The Hotel Voice sat down with Enide. This is her story:
You’ve worked as a Room Attendant at the DoubleTree Newark Airport for eight years now. What has it been like without a union?
I would go into work never knowing what the day might bring. Would we have enough linens and cleaning supplies that day? Often, the answer would be no. I’m an outspoken person, so if something is wrong, I am not afraid to say something. But I had no job security, so speaking up could be dangerous. My coworkers and I knew that management could fire any of us whenever they wanted to, even though we were all working hard. Without the union, management could do anything they wanted to – that’s what it felt like.
How did you first hear about the union?
My husband works for the government in a union job, so I saw from him the benefits and security it could provide. My coworker in housekeeping was the first person at the DoubleTree to tell me that they had been meeting with HTC, and they wanted me to talk to them too.
First, I met with the union organizers by myself, so I could hear what they had to say. The organizers told me that the union puts power in the workers' hands, and that they negotiate contracts that provide workers with job security, good wages, and healthcare we can actually afford. Very quickly, I was in.
You and your coworkers organized in secret over 11 months. The union organizers told you it wasn’t a quick process, and it wasn’t going to be easy. What made you decide to do it anyway?
My coworkers would come to me scared about losing their jobs or management finding out, but I would reassure them. I knew it all along – we were doing something that was going to change our lives for good.
"Enide was a rock for everyone. Whenever setbacks came our way, she never doubted. She was a natural leader."
— JUANA VELEZ, Senior Organizer
On January 22, 2025, HTC filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board. Management subsequently launched an anti-union campaign, bringing in one of the same union-busters hired by Amazon.
Can you tell me about management’s anti-union campaign?
Our bosses tried to convince us that the union was no good. They would say things like, “The union is a business. They just want your money.”
They tried to mess with us too. They told my coworkers to ask the union to sign a document that would promise they could win us a contract by June. They threatened that the union can fine us if we didn't support a strike.
But we had spent time preparing for how management would react, so their mind games didn’t work on us.
On February 27, 2025, the NLRB election took place at the DoubleTree Newark Airport.
Ultimately, more than 90% of your coworkers voted to join the union. How did you feel on election day, as you watch the votes be counted?
I was so happy, I wanted to scream. [Laughs] Watching as each vote was counted, seeing that almost all of them were in favor of the union... I was so excited. We had done it.
Now that you’ve won union representation, the next step in the process is negotiating a strong contract. When it comes to a union contract – what is most important to you?
Many things – wage increases, job security. Most importantly, health insurance I can actually afford. Right now, I pay $87 every two weeks for health insurance, just for myself. Some of my coworkers are paying a crazy amount – hundreds of dollars a month – for healthcare for their families. Affordable health insurance would be life-changing, for all of us.