Jewel Hotel 员工赢得 IWA!
Summer 2026
Jewel Hotel 员工赢得 IWA
位于曼哈顿中城的 Jewel Hotel 员工赢得了他们的第一份工会合同——这是一场历经 7年 才取得的胜利。这场斗争从来都不容易，但它带来的每一项成果，都足以改变员工的人生。
2019年8月，Jewel Hotel 的客房部、前台和工程部员工参加了由 NLRB（美国国家劳工关系委员会） 举行的工会选举，超过 85%的员工投票支持加入我们的工会。
作为最早支持工会的员工之一，Havo Djeka 回想起当年的工会组织行动时，仍然记得大家曾经深藏在心中的恐惧。“我的很多同事都希望加入工会，但他们很害怕。有人告诉了我们太多谎言，吓唬我们说，如果加入工会，我们将会面临各种不好的后果。”
选举结束六个月后，新冠疫情暴发，Jewel Hotel 随即关闭，并停业了一年多。许多非工会酒店——包括与 Jewel Hotel 属于同一业主旗下的酒店——解雇了长期工作的员工，并用劳务派遣员工取而代之。 但 Jewel Hotel 并没有这样做，因为这里的员工有工会代表。Havo 说：“因为我们有工会，疫情过后，他们让我们所有人都重新回来工作了。谢天谢地。”
我们的工会随后重新回到谈判桌前，向管理层施压，要求他们同意一份公平的工会合同，但酒店却一再拖延。员工们始终没有放弃。 当管理层试图打击员工的士气时，他们把工会徽章别在制服上，并在午休期间穿上工会T恤、戴上工会帽子。他们向管理层传递的信息十分明确：我们与工会站在一起，我们绝不会退缩。
今年6月，Jewel Hotel 的员工投票授权举行罢工。
在新的 IWA（行业通用协议） 谈判完成后，我们工会的组织员开始为 Jewel Hotel 的员工做好罢工准备。2026年6月24日，Jewel Hotel 的员工一致投票授权举行罢工。
曾经笼罩在员工心中的恐惧逐渐转化为信心；经过多年的艰苦谈判，这份信心最终又化为了坚定的决心。
管理层看到了 Jewel Hotel 员工团结一致，也意识到他们对罢工是认真的。他们亲眼看到 Jewel Hotel 的员工与数千名工会会员日复一日地来到附近 Fairfield & Four Points Times Square 的罢工纠察线，与工会的兄弟姐妹们并肩站在一起，以实际行动表达团结与声援。
面对自己酒店门前即将爆发罢工的压力，管理层最终让步，并签署了 IWA。
“我感觉自己仿佛赢得了全世界。”
2026年7月13日，Jewel Hotel 的员工投票批准了他们的第一份工会合同。整个会场充满了激动的气氛。随着每一位员工投下自己的选票，现场洋溢着兴奋、胜利的喜悦与激动的情绪。经过多年的不懈努力，如今，全世界最好的酒店员工合同终于也属于他们了。
Jewel Hotel 的 Houseperson Edward Tapia 说：“我是最早站出来、努力把大家团结起来的人之一，希望把所有同事凝聚在一起。我真的不敢相信这一刻终于到来了。真的，这一切感觉太不真实了。”
HTC 主席 Rich Maroko 对员工们说：“感谢你们所有人对我们的信任，感谢你们如此相信工会，愿意勇敢地站出来，为自己、为同事、也为自己的家人而奋斗。”
酒店客房服务员 Oana Georgescu 说：“对我来说，对我的家人来说，也为了我们长期工作给身体带来的伤痛——这一切意义重大。”“我感觉自己仿佛赢得了全世界。”
“感觉肩上的千斤重担终于卸下来了。”
“我妻子有一瓶香槟，一直留着准备在一个特别的时刻喝。当我刚开始在酒店工作的时候，那时签订工会合同感觉还是一件遥不可及的事，我们就决定：等我们赢得合同的那一天，就把这瓶香槟打开庆祝。我们还要带一个派来，把它切开；等我们拿到合同的时候，每个人都能分到一块这个‘胜利的果实’。”
在合同批准投票当天，Arnold 和他的妻子真的这样做了。
“我想好好纪念这一刻。当我和同事们谈起这一刻以及这瓶香槟对他们意味着什么时，我妻子哭了——那是喜悦的泪水。 这场为了赢得第一份工会合同而进行的斗争——这场硬仗——我们这辈子再也不需要经历第二次了。”
“直到现在，我还在慢慢消化这一切。我感觉身上的重担终于卸下来了。仿佛压在肩上的500磅重担一下子消失了。 现在我每天去上班，都感觉自己像走在云端一样。”
Workers at the Jewel Hotel win the IWA!
Workers at the Jewel Hotel in Midtown have won their first union contract – a victory 7-years in the making. While nothing about this fight has been easy, everything about it has been life-changing.
The housekeeping, front desk, and engineering workers at the Jewel organized in an August 2019 NLRB Election, with over 85% voting to join our union.
When Havo Djeka, one of the earliest union supporters, thinks back on the organizing drive, she still remembers the fear they all once held inside. “A lot of my coworkers wanted the union, but they were scared. We were told so many lies about what would happen to us if we joined.”
Six months after the election, COVID hit and the Jewel Hotel shuttered its doors for over a year. Many non-union hotels, including properties with the same owner as the Jewel, got rid of their long-time workforces and replaced them with agency workers. But not the Jewel, where the workers had union representation. “Because we had the union, after COVID they brought us all back,” said Havo. “Thank goodness.”
Our union returned to the negotiating table, pressuring management to agree to a fair contract, but the hotel dragged their feet. The workers didn't let up. When management tried to break their spirits, the workers pinned their union buttons onto their uniforms and wore their union t-shirts and hats during their lunch breaks. The message to management: we're with our union, and we're not going anywhere.
In June, workers at the Jewel Hotel authorized a strike.
Following the negotiation of the new IWA contract, our union's organizers prepared the workers for a strike. On June 24, 2026, the Jewel workers unanimously voted to authorize a strike.
The workers' once-pervasive fear turned into confidence, and after years of hard bargaining, confidence turned into determination.
Management saw that the Jewel workers were united and serious about striking. They watched as the Jewel workers and thousands of union members showed up day after day to the nearby picket line at the Fairfield & Four Points Times Square in solidarity with their union brothers and sisters.
Fearing an impending strike outside of their own hotel, management caved and signed the IWA.
“I feel like I won the world”
On July 13, 2026, the Jewel workers voted to ratify their first union contract. The room was alive. As each worker cast their ballot, the room buzzed with excitement, triumph, emotion. After a multi-year effort, the best contract for hotel workers in the world now belonged to them.
“I was one of the first ones to come and try to unite, to get the crew together,” said Edward Tapia, a Houseperson at the Jewel. “I just can't believe the time has come. I mean, it's surreal.”
“Thank you all for putting your faith in us, for believing in the union enough to stick your necks out for yourselves, for your coworkers, for your families,” HTC President Rich Maroko told the workers.
“For me, for my family, for the pain we have in our bodies – it means a lot,” said Oana Georgescu, a Room Attendant at the hotel. “I feel like I won the world.”
“500 pounds just came off of my shoulders”
“My wife had a bottle of champagne that she was saving for a special occasion. When I first started working at the hotel, when a union contract still felt so far away, we decided: When we win a contract, we're going to pop this champagne. We're going to bring a pie and cut it; when we get a contract, everyone will get a piece of the pie.”
On Ratification Day, that's exactly what Arnold and his wife Elayne did.
“I wanted to honor the moment. Talking to my coworkers about what this moment and this champagne meant to them, my wife started crying (Happy tears). This battle for a first contract – this war – will never come again.”
“I'm still processing it all. I feel like a load was lifted off. 500 pounds just came off of my shoulders. I go to work on cloud 9.”