A Report from HTC President Rich Maroko

By HTC President Rich Maroko

After an incredibly difficult year, the New York and New Jersey hospitality and gaming industries have finally started to slowly recover. And while we’ve seen many hotels, clubs, and casinos reopen, the majority of our members are still not back to work. Read more...

Newsfeed

A brief report on our Union's progress since the start of the year.

New Resources for Laid Off Members

While tourism has picked up and our industries have started to make a comeback, the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented. Never before have so many hotels and casinos been closed and so many of our Union’s members laid off, for so long.

The months ahead will undoubtedly be difficult for many of our members. You can count on your Union to do absolutely everything in its power to assist you until you are recalled to your Union job. Take a look at some of the resources that are available to you below. Read more...

Dues Increase Postponed

HTC’s governing body approved delaying this year’s scheduled September 1^st dues increase until next year. Read more...

The HTC Chef

By Alex Hing, Union Sous Chef, Millennium UN Plaza

In the Academy award-winning animated movie titled after this vegetable casserole, Ratatouille, a rodent teams up with a kitchen steward to win over a cynical Parisian food critic by transforming this French peasant dish into something sublime. You can do the same if you cook it with love. Read more...

Round and About

Community news from our Union brothers and sisters

“I’ll never forget my first love” - NYC Mayoral Candidate Eric Adams Celebrates Victory in Primary with HTC

On Thursday, July 15^th our Union proudly welcomed NYC Mayoral Candidate Eric Adams to our headquarters to celebrate his victory in the 2021 Democratic primary. Read more...

Our 2021 Election Work is Not Over Yet

On November 2^nd, both New York City and New Jersey are holding local elections. Not only will the officials elected this fall oversee the recovery of our region’s economy, but they will be important allies to us as employers try to exploit this crisis to eliminate hotel jobs. The leaders we elect will also, critically, be in office when the GRIWA contract expires (in 2023) and most likely when the IWA (2026) and Division A (2027) contracts expire. Read more...

The 2021 Freedom Rides: HTC Marches with Thousands in Washington D.C. to Fight Voter Suppression

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the 1961 Freedom Rides, when a brave group of civil rights activists organized protests against segregation from Washington D.C. through the South, facing angry mobs and violence during their journey. Sixty years later, the fight for civil rights is far from over with an assault on the voting rights of Americans — specifically Black, Brown, and working class people—in full force in present day America. Read more...

Fight over severance at nearly 50 shops

Throughout this crisis, our Union has had the pivotal protection of our long-term contracts. Last fall, our Union harnessed the power of those contracts to win over $370 million in severance for our laid off members. While the majority of union hotels fulfilled their obligation and paid the awarded severance to union workers without issue, some employers chose to withhold the payments, in explicit violation of the arbitrator’s legally binding decision. Read more...

Get your “I Got My Shots!” Pin

As part of a campaign to encourage guests to stay at union properties – where a high percentage of members are vaccinated and there are strict safety protocols – we have designed a new union pin to advertise that we got our shots! Read more...

Help with Healthcare is Available - Apply by August 15th!

The government's deadline to apply for this program is this Sunday, August 15th. Don't delay!

There is more good news from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) that was passed by Congress and signed by President Biden in March. Many workers who are receiving — or have already received — unemployment benefits in 2021 qualify for no-cost or low-cost private health insurance. This little known feature of the ARP will last through the end of the year. But eligible workers must apply by August 15. The program applies to anyone who received unemployment benefits anytime during 2021, even if they are working again. Read more...

Dental Services Back in Brooklyn

This May, we celebrated the limited reopening of the Brooklyn health center with New York Senator and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Now, we’re happy to announce that dental services are coming back to Brooklyn on August 16th! As the number of members returning to our healthcare plan continues to grow, services at the Brooklyn health center will be expanded. Read more...

Harlem Health Center Reopens With Limited Services!

The Union’s Harlem health center reopens August 16^th, after being temporarily closed since the beginning of this year. As many members will recall, the Harlem health center had to temporarily close in January, due to the reduced size of the active workforce. Given the high volume of members returning to our healthcare, either because they are returning to work or through the free COBRA subsidy, the facility is now able to reopen. With the reopening of Harlem, all five locations are now open, with Brooklyn and Harlem offering limited services to start. Read more...

This Year's Union Scholarship Awards

They want to be researchers, social workers, lawyers, teachers and doctors. They will be going to schools like CUNY's legendary Macaulay Honors College, Stony Brook, Harvard, Tulane, St. John's, and Stanford. They have been active in their communities and they have performed good works like volunteering at nursing homes and delivering Meals on Wheels. They are the Union's 2021 scholarship winners, and they are an impressive group of promising students representing hope for the future for all of us. Read more...