On the picket line: the fight for a first contract at the Fairfield & Four Points Times Square
Summer 2026
Hotel workers at the Fairfield by Marriott New York Times Square and the Four points by Sheraton Midtown – Time Square on West 40th Street picketed for 47 days this summer. On August 14, 2026, they celebrated signing their first union contract, the IWA.
“After nearly four years of fighting and 47 days on the picket line, workers at the Fairfield & Four Points Times Square will finally receive the wages, healthcare, retirement, security and respect they deserve — including more than $50,000 in back pay each and immediate raises of up to $15 an hour. I am incredibly proud of their courage and determination, and grateful to every HTC member, elected official and supporter who stood shoulder with us. This victory is a powerful reminder of what working people can accomplish when we stand together and refuse to back down.”
– RICH MAROKO, HTC President
The workers at the Fairfield & Four Points Times Square joined our union in 2022. Management resisted the union at every turn – from running an anti-union campaign during the workers' organizing efforts to refusing to agree to a fair contract for nearly four years. Throughout years of negotiations, our union pressured management to bring wages, benefits, and working conditions in line with union standards across NYC's hotel industry. Ultimately, the union had no choice but to call for a boycott and picket line outside of the hotels. On June 29, the Fairfield & Four Points workers began picketing. For 47 days, through 100-degree weather, rainstorms, wildfire smoke, and multiple stabbings of Scabby the Rat, the workers and over 8,000 union volunteers kept the picket line strong.
“I work in housekeeping here at the Fairfield Inn. For 13 years, I've given this hotel my all... and in return I get very little,” said Ramona Garcia, a Room Attendant at the Fairfield by Marriott Times Square, at a rally outside the hotels on July 1st. “I earn only $22 an hour. I have to pay over $100 a week for my health insurance. I don't have anything saved for retirement... I have no safety net, so I work a second job cleaning houses to make ends meet.”
“This moment is unforgettable,” said Ramona on the day she and her coworkers won the IWA. “We feel energized. We feel supported. We feel respected. We feel valued. We had tremendous support. Thanks to you, to everyone who came out to support us, today, we are happy.”
A life-changing contract
The workers decided to organize with HTC in 2022 because they wanted a living wage, affordable healthcare, safer working conditions, and fair treatment. Their first contract is life-changing, on all fronts.
Wages jump overnight by $10+ per hour
Wages jump overnight by $10+ per hourPrior to this contract, the hotel’s long-time workforce earned an average wage of just $20.56 per hour in housekeeping – that's nearly $40,000 per year less than a union housekeeper.
“I feel like I'm going to fly to the moon. I'm going to make almost double now. Plus, $50,000 in backpay. I work 7 days a week between the hotel and my second job cleaning houses. I won't have to do this anymore. I'll be able to spend more time with my family. More than anything, it means peace. It means security, that I'll be able to retire and leave things behind for my children one day.”
– MARÍA DE LEON, Room Attendant at the Fairfield by Marriott Times Square
“Before this contract, I was making $17 an hour. I had to decline the health insurance because it pretty much cost more than I was making. Now, my wages are going up by $14 an hour. I want to get an apartment that I can pay for by myself now. I'm going to be able to put money away – it was really hard to save before. The healthcare is going to be free. I'm not going to always have to be waiting for the next paycheck.”
– RAVEN DOUGLAS, Room Attendant at the Fairfield by Marriott Times Square
Access to the union's free healthcare
At over $100/week for employee coverage, most workers at the hotel could not afford the hotel’s health insurance. Under their first contract, workers will immediately have the option to enroll in the Industry Wide Health Benefits Fund – granting them access to free doctors and affordable prescriptions.
“This year, I had to go without health insurance because they raised the rates. I had to go without checkups and medicine for my diabetes and high blood pressure. I think my wife is the happiest person in the world right now. She does so much to take care of me, and she worries about my health and wellbeing. Having free healthcare is such a relief for both of us. It lightens the worry. I am so grateful.”
– CHEDEN ADETSANG, Houseperson at the Fairfield by Marriott Times Square
Retirement benefits – for the first time
Prior to this contract, the hotel did not offer housekeeping workers a 401(k) plan or a pension.
“My whole paycheck goes towards paying my bills. There's nothing left over for me to save for retirement. A pension would change my life, allow me to retire one day.”
– YONG FEN LEI, Room Attendant at the Four Points by Sheraton Times Square
In the new contract, management must contribute to the company's profit-sharing plan for each employee and, in 2030, workers will be able to elect the union's pension plan.
The Industry-Wide Agreement
Workers will receive all the other rights and benefits of the IWA, including job security, protections against unfair discipline, protections if the hotel is sold, scheduling rights, daily and 6th/7th day overtime, night shift differential, safety and health protections, Pre-Paid Legal and Scholarship Funds, and improved paid time off (to match the IWA).
Elected officials rallied behind workers on the picket line
The outpouring of support for the picket line was constant. In the summer heat, dozens of elected officials joined the picket line and vowed to have the workers backs'.
On July 27th, Governor Kathy Hochul joined HTC members on the picket line. “They're dedicated. They show up every single day, rain or shine, and they put in a hard day's work. And you know what, in return, they deserve a fair wage and benefits,” said Governor Hochul.
An effective boycott
Our union operated a 24-7 boycott concierge outside of the hotels, helping hundreds of guests to rebook at nearby hotels without a picket line. We ran digital ads across all of the popular booking sites that reached hundreds of thousands of people. We contacted large groups travelling to NYC for conferences and events at convention centers and encouraged them to move their business.
The New York Times Tech Guild members were one group that cancelled their stay in solidarity. When they learned there was an active picket line, they not only said to one another “over our dead bodies do we cross the picket line” – but they joined picketers outside of the hotels.
Elected officials pen a letter to Gehr: More than 50 elected officials signed a letter urging Gehr to “end these unnecessary delays, come to the bargaining table in good faith, and negotiate a fair first contract.” Attorney General Tish James, New York Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, NYC Comptroller Mark Levine, Speaker Julie Menin, and dozens more both signed onto the letter and visited the picket line in solidarity with the workers at the Fairfield & Four Points Times Square.
July 1, 2026. The same day that our new IWA went into effect for thousands of NYC hotel workers, elected officials and over 200 union members rallied outside of the Fairfield & Four Points Times Square. “The Midtown picket line drew an unusually large contingent of elected officials,” described the news outlet Jacobin.
From the picket line to the People's House: Mayor Mamdani welcomed the Fairfield & Four Points Times Square workers to Gracie Mansion.
“You've heard me say this before: When you're part of a union, you're never fighting alone. You're fighting with your coworkers, but you also have the other 40,000 HTC members – they have your back.
Management would not have signed this contract if you weren't out there fighting, and if you weren't out there fighting together. What you represent is the power that we have when we stick together and say: we don't have to take the scraps that you're throwing us. We can demand more, we can fight for more, and when we do, we can win.”
– HTC PRESIDENT RICH MAROKO, at the August 14th contract ratification
Over 8,000 union volunteers
As always, when your union called on you, you showed up.
Joyce Mangal, a Room Attendant and union member of 22 years, came to the picket line every day after her shift at the Knickerbocker Hotel.
“I'm doing this for the workers. I really want to help them. I told them: We are here for you. Rain or shine, I'll be here.”
“When everyone comes, the boss sees it. We are lucky. We need to show our appreciation on the picket line. We have to fight for these workers who don't have what we have.”
“I did 47 days straight on the picket line. Every single day. Why? Because I owe so much to my union. My house is paid off because of my union. I put my two daughters through private school, from Pre-K to college, because of my union,” said Remigio Perez, a union member of 42 years.
“Being on the picket line is not easy. We were tested. Rain or shine; 100 degrees or with a poncho. Every day, I showed up. When it poured, I swept the floors. We kept picketing. When I found out we won, I started crying.”
Thousands of you adopted picket shifts and walked the line alongside the workers on West 40th Street. You whistled and chanted, you drummed so loud that you ruptured multiple drumheads, and you got countless drivers to honk in support of working people. You brought joy, too, dancing to beats produced by our very own Silvio Guevara of the Lexington Hotel. You lifted the workers' spirits and assured them that they would never find themselves alone.