Building Political Power
Summer 2025Every election season, our union works to elect local officials who we can count on to have our backs. Next year, the local laws that our allies have worked with us to pass and their commitment to support our picket lines will give us power at the bargaining table.
Thousands of members have contributed their time and energy toward building our union’s political power – knocking on doors, flyering near polling sites, and rallying behind candidates. As a direct result, our union has never had more influence in local politics than we do today.
Why does it matter? How does that influence help us achieve our goals at the bargaining table next year?
First of all, we want elected officials to be in our corner during a fight. By walking our picket lines and publicly speaking up for hotel workers, they can send a powerful message to employers that our city and state won’t tolerate bad actors. But more importantly, our union has been able to count on elected officials to support hotel workers and pass targeted laws that improve our position at the bargaining table.
A closer look at the most important laws and regulations that our union has won ahead of next year’s negotiations:
Consumer Protections & Notification Requirements
SEPTEMBER 2020
What this law does: In 2020, New York City adopted new regulations to protect and empower hotel guests. The law requires hotels to notify guests ahead of their stay of disruptions like loud noise and unavailable amenities, as well as union strikes or picket lines. The law stops hotels from locking guests into their bookings in these situations. It requires hotels offer a refund if a guest wants to cancel or leave.
Why does it matter? By protecting guests, this law also has the effect of protecting workers. When our union puts up a picket line, we have a major advantage over workers in other industries: guests must physically cross our picket line – giving us the ability to talk to them about our fight. But until this law was passed, we also had a major disadvantage: many guests didn’t find out about our fight until they arrived at the hotel and they had no way to get their money back if they wanted to move somewhere else. With this law, guests will have more rights and any guests who want to cancel their stay will have an easier time doing so.
Improvements to Unemployment Benefits
MAY 2025
What this law does: New York State elected officials have made dramatic improvements to the unemployment system. The changes increase the maximum weekly benefit by 75% – from a limit of $504/week to $869/week – and allow for striking workers to collect unemployment benefits more quickly.
Why does it matter? It’s always our goal to reach a contract without a fight, but in the event that management forces a strike, these improvements mean our members will be able to collect higher benefits and do so more quickly – and that means that members on strike can afford to take on management for as long as it takes.
Worker Retention Requirements
SEPTEMBER 2020
What this law does: Under this law, any New York City hotel that changes hands or employers is required to retain the hotel’s current employees for at least 90 days.
Why does it matter? While our contracts already have stronger protections than the law during a hotel sale or change in management, some hotels have tried to use bankruptcy laws, foreclosure, and fly-by-night sales to get around our contract. This law bolsters our contractual rights in those situations – by imposing an obligation on the hotel’s buyer. In addition, it protects non-union hotel workers from being replaced by a new subcontracting agency in retaliation for their union activity during an organizing drive.
For years, hotels have used subcontracting agencies to prevent the workers at their hotel from organizing. Because it was easy to change agencies, hotels would fire an agency (and with it, the agency’s workers) as soon as the workers stood up for themselves. So, it was no surprise when the Margaritaville hotel attempted to get rid of workers who were organizing by firing their agency as part of an aggressive anti-union campaign. But with the implementation of the Hotel Worker Retention Act, this union-busting trick no longer worked. After firing the agency, the Margaritaville had to directly employ the workers instead – and the hotel even began paying the workers the $6-7/hour cut that had been going to the agency. Shortly after the incident, the hotel settled and signed our master contract.
Special Permits for Hotels
DECEMBER 2021
What this law does: Special permits require any new hotel project in New York City to go through a transparent and rigorous approval process. Special permits give community members and local officials a say over future hotel development and allow the public to advocate against hotels that will negatively change the character of our neighborhoods.
Why does it matter? New York City suffered from the irresponsible over-development of hotels for nearly two decades. Our neighborhoods were negatively impacted when many of these hotels quickly became hotbeds of crime. Overbuilding was bad for the hotel industry. And our union witnessed a serious decline in our union density– a vital threat to our bargaining power. Our union simply couldn’t organize as quickly as hotels were opening. By stopping this unregulated hotel development through special permits and working tirelessly to organize over 200 non-union hotels since 2012: We’ve made sure that we still represent the overwhelming majority of the industry. We’ve protected our bargaining power. And we’ve invalidated any argument that the wages and benefits we want will put a union hotel at too big of a disadvantage.
When the hotel industry experienced a tidal wave of new development, our union couldn’t keep up. The majority of these new hotels used subcontracting agencies to insulate themselves, exploited their workers atrociously, and fiercely resisted any attempt by their workers to organize. Special permits have slowed the over-develop-ment of hotels. Coupled with our effort to organize more non-union hotels, we can protect our high union density in New York City.
Local Law 18 – and the ongoing fight to combat illegal hotels
SEPTEMBER 2023
What this law does: Going back 15 years, our union has been fighting to restrict how short-term rentals and Airbnbs operate in New York City. We have worked with state and local officials to pass multiple laws that prevent businesses and landlords from using New York City apartments to run illegal hotels. We also worked with elected officials to gradually increase the government’s enforcement power – most recently with Local Law 18, which requires hosts on websites like Airbnb to register with the City.
Why does it matter? As hotel workers, every guest staying in an ‘entire home unit’ short-term rental or Airbnb, is a guest who is not staying a legitimate hotel. As New Yorkers, we want to be able to afford to stay in our neighborhoods and every one of those home units being used as an Airbnb, is a home that is not available to New Yorkers in need of housing. Because of Local Law 18, there is now a legitimate way for short-term rentals to operate, without taking away homes and jobs from New Yorkers.
In a David and Goliath-like effort, our union and tenant groups have prevented illegal hotel operators on websites like Airbnb from threatening our jobs and worsening the city’s housing crisis. Since the passage of Local Law 18 two years ago, the number of illegal hotels in New York City have dropped by over 90% and tens of thousands of apartments have re-entered the housing market.
The Safe Hotels Act
NOVEMBER 2024
What this law does: The Safe Hotels Act offers unprecedented protections for hotel workers, the public, and guests. The law requires New York City hotels to become licensed in order to operate and gives city officials new enforcement powers to make sure that hotels meet basic cleanliness standards and satisfy common-sense safety requirements. The law also stops hotels with 100 rooms or more from entering into new contracts with subcontracting agencies for housekeeping and front desk.
Why does it matter? These protections were already common-place in union hotels – but now, non-union hotels will need to meet basic standards too. Non-union hotels can no longer profit off skipping daily cleanings and not staffing key positions like security and front desk. By requiring that hotels provide certain services, the Safe Hotels Act prevents the hotel industry from making certain demands at the negotiations next year. For example, in contract negotiations across the country, hotel workers have had to fight attempts by employers to eliminate daily room cleaning. In New York, that’s now illegal – meaning management can’t even propose it.
The law also stops many hotels from entering into new agreements with subcontracting agencies. Subcontracting agencies have long insulated hotel operators from any real legal responsibility to their employees. These agencies have exploited hotel workers and have provided a loop-hole that makes it even more dangerous for agency workers to try to improve their working conditions – all while taking a cut of the hourly pay that could be going to the workers. For thousands of agency hotel workers, this law will mean they can soon actually exercise their legal rights, including the right to join our union.
