Newsfeed
Summer 2025Contract wins
Cosmopolitan Club
May 2: This May, union members at the Cosmopolitan Club unanimously ratified their new contract, which will provide them with 6 years of security. “This is the fifth contract ratification I’ve experienced in my 31 years as a union member. And our contract just keeps getting stronger,” said Anthony Smith, a Club Pastry Chef.
“Under our new contract, the employer has to pay more money towards the club pension – and this makes me more hopeful about future retirement.”
– ANTHONY SMITH, Club Pastry Chef at the Cosmopolitan Club
Resorts World Catskills
June 12: Union members at Resorts World Catskills ratified their contract extension in a sweeping vote. The extension, which is in effect through March 31, 2028, provides union members with two more years of the protections of a strong union contract.
“There is so much to celebrate. The minimum toke rate will increase. My coworkers and I will be able to take home more money to our families. And our pension is protected. It’s such good news.”
– LINA YU, Table Games Dealer III at Resorts World Catskills
Hard Rock
June 25: Floor supervisors at the Hard Rock hotel unanimously ratified their first union contract.
“When you don’t have a union, management takes advantage of you,” said Cinthia Toala, a Housekeeping Supervisor at the Hard Rock, who spent over a year meeting with organizers about joining our union.
“I used to have to miss my kids’ concerts because I could get fired for taking a day off. But now, when I request time off, I hear ‘no problem.’ That’s the power of having a union contract.”
– CINTHIA TOALA, Housekeeping Supervisor at Hard Rock
voco Fiorello LaGuardia East
July 16: Housekeeping workers at voco Fiorello LaGuardia East in Flushing, New York ratified their first union contract – 100% YES!
“I am very excited about this win because I will now be able to afford spending more quality time with my son!”
– GENESIS MAYEN, Room Attendant at voco Fiorello LaGuardia East
The Players
July 23: Union members at The Players unanimously ratified another excellent contract. Their new contract will be in effect for 6 more years, until June 30, 2031.
“I have dedicated 30 years to working at this club, and I plan on retiring from here. The union fought hard for us in these negotiations. Management made some proposals to try to weaken our contract, but we wouldn’t let that happen. To know that I have a strong union backing me up – that support is invaluable.”
– ELISA NARPIER, Grill Wait Staff at The Players
DoubleTree Newark Airport
May 21: Three months after enduring an aggressive anti-union campaign and voting to join our union, housekeeping workers at the DoubleTree Newark Airport have ratified their first union contract (100% YES)! The first contract slashes the cost of family healthcare by 95%.
“Before the union, I struggled to pay my bills and my healthcare cost $200 each paycheck,” said Gladys, a Room Attendant at the hotel.
“Thanks to the union, I am making more money, and I actually have affordable healthcare. I’m thankful my coworkers and I made the decision to fight for the union.”
– GLADYS INFANTE, Room Attendant at DoubleTree Newark Airport
Hampton Inn & Suites Albany – Downtown
June 25: Just months after winning union representation, workers at the Hampton Inn & Suites Albany – Downtown voted unanimously to ratify their first union contract!
With the addition of the Hampton Inn & Suites Albany – Downtown, 100% of hotels in downtown Albany are now represented by our union!
“We are all very excited about winning this contract. We now have wage increases, benefits and rights that we never had before. It's made a real difference in morale – it's already changing lives here.”
– MIGUEL RODRIGUEZ, Housekeeping Supervisor at the Hampton Inn & Suites Albany – Downtown
100th GRIWA
This first contract at the DoubleTree Newark Airport is our union’s 100th GRIWA contract. In 2013, we signed the first GRIWA with only four hotels. After more than a decade of non-stop organizing an contentious bargaining, we now have every major employer in the region bound to the GRIWA.
8,200 HTC-represented workers outside of NYC
100+ employers bound to the GRIWA
"The GRIWA has completely transformed the standard for hotel jobs outside of New York City – providing good wages, job security, affordable healthcare, and strong on-the-job protections for our thousands of members in New Jersey and New York State. We couldn’t be prouder!"
– ALYSSA TRAMPOSCH, Local 6 General Counsel
HTC in the news
CRAIN’S
State boosts benefits for striking workers, helping union ahead of hotel battle
New York’s new budget includes a measure that speeds up how quickly striking workers can receive unemployment benefits – a change backed by organized labor that could benefit a powerful hospitality union in their upcoming contract fight with city hotel owners.
Gov. Kathy Hochul unexpectedly announced her support for the unemployment deal in early May – days after she met personally with Rich Maroko, president of the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, which has spent years pushing to reduce the waiting period and increase the weekly payments.
Now, HTC believes those changes will give them added leverage when they negotiate a new all-important master contract with hoteliers. The union’s current 14-year pact expires in July 2026, and talks are expected to ramp up in the coming months.
CITY & STATE
The Albany 2025 Power 100
#28 Rich Maroko
Hotel and Gaming Trades Council President Rich Maroko has hospitality workers well-positioned for the future…
The influential HTC chief backed New York City legislation requiring hotels to maintain front desk staff and housekeepers, which the City Council overwhelmingly passed in October. More hotel jobs could be in the pipeline. Maroko’s union is supporting a number of applicants for new downstate casinos, which could create thousands of new middle-class jobs for his membership once the state awards up to three downstate licenses this year.
Delegate trainings
Hundreds of HTC delegates have graduated from our union’s Delegate Training Program
Congratulations to the union delegates who have completed the Delegate Training Program! Over the past few months, hundreds of members have attended a Delegate Graduation Ceremony at HTC headquarters, where we recognized the dedication it takes to be a union delegate and the critical importance of this role to keeping our union strong.
500+ union delegates complete trainings
“Congratulations on completing the Delegate Training Program! Thank you for coming to this course to learn how to become even better at enforcing our contract,” said HTC President Rich Maroko, addressing a crowd of union delegates. “Thank you for sacrificing your time, energy, and effort to make our union even stronger.”
The fight for affordable housing
On June 4, 2025, New Yorkers rallied outside of Airbnb headquarters during their annual shareholder meeting. HTC joined tenants groups and everyday New Yorkers to make it clear to Airbnb and other short-term rental companies: NYC is NOT FOR SALE!
“Rents are skyrocketing. Working people, nurses, union workers are all being pushed out of their neighborhoods,” Robert Desir of the Legal Aid Society said to the crowd assembled on the street, “And who’s making it worse? AIRBNB.”
NEW YORK POST
Airbnb wants to come back to the Big Apple, but New Yorkers concerned with housing crisis aren’t convinced
A majority of New Yorkers don’t want to give Airbnb access to the Big Apple’s housing market, a new poll says.
Concerns among the city dwellers centered on the housing crisis — with more than 80% of respondents expressing worry about a diminished regular housing supply with the short-term rentals.
In the shops
WALDORF ASTORIA
Union members return to work at the historic Waldorf Astoria
When the Waldorf Astoria closed for renovations eight years ago, our union negotiated a choice: members could keep their recall rights, or they could choose to walk away with an enhanced severance package. Many members chose to take the buyout, which was so impressive it made the pages of The New York Times. The average payout to union members was a whopping $142,000 in 2016. The hundreds of members who opted to keep their recall rights started returning to their jobs at the Waldorf Astoria this summer, on July 15th.
“Both of my great grandfathers were members of this union. My great grandfather on my dad’s side, Juan Bonilla, was a steward at the Waldorf Astoria for 25 years. My great grand-father on my mom’s side, Joe Torres, was a bell captain at the Waldorf Astoria for over 30 years. And then there’s me, who’s been at the Waldorf since 2000.
The Waldorf was my first hotel job, and I’d like it to be my only hotel job. I want to retire from this place one day, just like my grandfathers.
I’ve been back 3 weeks now – and I have this deep feeling of gratitude that the union was able to give me a choice. The union won a phenomenal severance package, but ultimately the choice was up to us – we could walk away with the money we deserved, or we could choose to keep our recall rights.”
– STEVE VERGARA, Package Room Attendant
MGM EMPIRE YONKERS RACEWAY
Union wins $1.5 million for gaming workers to remedy abusive scheduling grievance
Four hundred union members at MGM Empire Yonkers Raceway took home a hefty check this month after the union successfully argued for (and won) significant backpay to remedy a scheduling grievance.
During the pandemic, management started to treat full-time workers as if they were on-call, in a short-sighted attempt to cut labor costs. Management engaged in excessive cycles of recalling workers to cover call outs and vacations before immediately laying them off again – all without providing workers with the notice required under the contract. Our union took the employer to arbitration. The arbitrator agreed with the union’s position that the scheduling practices were abusive.
$1,565,040 in backpay won in total
Now, management has to pay up – dishing out over $1.5 million in backpay across the affected members.
“July 17th was a good day. When I walked into the ratification, I had no idea what would be in store. I saw the number next to my name – I was in shock, excited, overwhelmed with emotion...The union had been fighting for us, and I am so grateful!”
– MARIA RIVERA, EVS Attendant