News
HTC President Rich Maroko appointed to NYC Covid-19 recovery task force
March 23, 2022 1:49 PM
In an effort to speed up New York City’s economic and health recovery, Mayor Adams launched the COVID-19 Recovery Roundtable and Health Equity Task Force. The commission will advise the Adams’ administration on long-term health care and health equity policies. Read more...
HTC Rallies for Governor Hochul at the New York State Democratic Convention
March 23, 2022 12:42 PM
On February 17th, a delegation of over 100 HTC members attended the New York State Democratic Convention at the invitation of Governor Kathy Hochul. The convention, held at the Sheraton Times Square, is where the state Democratic Party nominates candidates for statewide elected positions such as governor, attorney general, comptroller, and lieutenant governor. Read more...
HTC Marches In Solidarity with CUNY and SUNY For Free, Accessible Education in the State of New York!
On Sunday, March 6, HTC members marched from Brooklyn Borough Hall to Foley Square in Manhattan in solidarity with the Professional Staff Congress (PSC- CUNY) that represents 30,000 staff in the City University of New York. For over four decades, the PSC has been committed to improving the quality and accessibility of education within CUNY and has strived towards better wages and benefits for the staff. This past Sunday, we marched for free higher education and to call for more funding for CUNY and SUNY universities, funding that will go towards their academic departments and hiring more full-time faculty. Read more...
High School Seniors Can Now Apply for the 2022 College Scholarships
February 3, 2022 11:30 AM
The Vito J. Pitta scholarship program and the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council Division A scholarship program are now accepting applications for their 2022 awards. These programs provide an outstanding opportunity for members’ children to supplement the ever-increasing high cost of college. Read more...
Apply Now for a 2022 Union Plus Scholarship
January 13, 2022 3:06 PM
This is a reminder that the deadline is nearing to apply for Union Plus scholarships, a program that is open to all members of the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council and Local 6, as well as their spouses and children. Read more...
“NYC Hotel Workers Seize Political Influence at Key Moment for City’s Recovery” – Bloomberg
December 22, 2021 11:18 AM
At the start of the COVID-19 crisis, many in the hospitality industry, the media, and local political scene speculated that our Union would lose its power as a result of the devastating layoffs affecting our members. Read more...
Kathy Hochul, Our Choice for NY Governor
Our Union is proud to endorse New York Governor Kathy Hochul in her 2022 bid for Governor. In just a few months of her brief time as Governor, Hochul has stood out as a leader who is willing to listen to New Yorkers, find sensible solutions, and then execute them at lightning speed. Read more...
Here Are the 2021 Writing Contest Winners
December 16, 2021 6:09 PM
The union's annual writing contest brought in plenty of excellent entries this year, and along with them came lots of praise for the high school students that submitted them. What's on the minds of high school students today? Well, the Supreme Court, the Second Amendment, the benefits of union membership, immigration, self-discovery and, most of all, the pandemic were topics chosen by multiple students. Highly intelligent essays on these and other subjects made for compelling reading, and there were also many gripping fiction and non-fiction narratives. The top prize in each category received $1,500 and there were four additional students who won $1,000 each. And then there was the grand prize of $3,000 for the top overall entry in the competition. Read more...
Awards Announced in Union’s Writing Contest
December 16, 2021 5:55 PM
The Union's annual writing contest is now 20 years old, and it will be entering its next decade in 2022 after a year that brought some of the finest work ever submitted to the competition. The professionally judged contest awards cash prizes and, yes, some prestige as well, to high school students — grades 10-12 — whose parents are members of the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council (HTC) or the Local 6 Club Department. Read more...
Benefit Funds Temporarily Reduce Required Hours for Age & Service Pension
November 22, 2021 9:37 AM
Earlier this week, the Pension Fund of the Union and Hotel Association of New York City, Inc. sent a notice to members notifying them of a temporary change to the hours of service eligibility requirements of the Age & Service Pension Plan. Read more...
“With HTC, I’m keeping darn good company” – NJ Gov. Phil Murphy Celebrates our Endorsement
October 28, 2021 12:50 PM
On Friday, October 1st, at the Doubletree by Hilton Newark Penn Station, our Union proudly endorsed New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy for reelection on November 2nd. Over 100 HTC members cheered “4 more years” as Governor Murphy entered the ballroom, joined by HTC President Rich Maroko. Read more...
HTC Member Denise Matthews, Grand Hyatt, Talks to NY1 About New NYC Law Incentivizing Hotels to Reopen
October 27, 2021 12:57 PM
HTC Member Denise Matthews is one of over 1,000 members who was recalled to work at her union job as a result of new legislation requiring New York City hotels with 100 or more rooms to reopen by November 1st or pay severance to laid off workers. Just two weeks after the bill was first signed, a third of the closed, union hotels covered by the legislation have announced reopening dates. Read more...
NYC Council Approves Hotel Worker Severance Bill 40 to 3
September 29, 2021 6:43 PM
On Thursday, September 23rd, the New York City Council voted overwhelmingly to pass the Hotel Worker Severance Bill. The bill, designed to incentivize closed hotels to reopen, requires closed hotels with at least 100 guest rooms to either reopen and recall at least 25% of their staff by November 1st or pay $500 per week to laid off employees for up to 30 weeks. Read more...
Rich Maroko and Administrations of HTC and Local 6 Are Re-Elected
September 4, 2021 12:56 PM
In a solid vote of confidence in Rich Maroko and the administrations of both the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council and Local 6, members re-elected them by acclamation at general membership meetings on September 3rd. Read more...
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...
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...
"No matter where you lay your head at night, don't sleep on the political sway of HTC" - City & State
July 16, 2021 2:02 PM
HTC President Rich Maroko and our Union were nominated as one of this week’s biggest winners in New York City politics. Read more...
“I never forget my first”: Adams vows to back Hotel Trades Council after early endorsement – NY1
July 16, 2021 11:40 AM
On Thursday, July 15, 2021, our Union proudly hosted Eric Adams to celebrate his recent victory in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor. Our Union was the first labor union to back Adams in the Democratic primary in February 2021 and as always, our members showed up in force to campaign for him.
"You have been my first major union endorsement, I never forget my first. You are my love," Adams told a crowd of nearly 200 member volunteers who came to celebrate on Thursday. Read more...
The Do’s and Don'ts of Ranked Choice Voting
June 11, 2021 4:18 PM
Ranked Choice Voting is coming to NYC elections this month. Before you head to the polls, here are a few things to make sure you do and some other mistakes to avoid on your ranked ballot.
- DO vote for up to 5 candidates for a given race, without hurting your 1st choice candidate.
- DO NOT vote for your favorite candidate — or any candidate— more than once.
- DO know the dates for the upcoming elections!
- DO NOT give any candidates the same ranking
Read more here...
Marriott Marquis and Marriott Downtown Workers Seize a Second Chance To Join HTC
June 10, 2021 7:00PM
Marriott has waged a very sophisticated and expensive avoidance strategy at its two non-union hotels in New York City: the New York Marriott Marquis, its flagship hotel in Times Square, and the Marriott Downtown, located on Albany and West Streets in lower Manhattan. The cornerstone of Marriott’s union avoidance strategy was doing a masterful job tricking the workers into believing that they had the same rights and job protections that HTC members have under our contract. Read more...
