With the ratification of a new contract, thousands of local hospitality workers averted a strike and what would’ve been years of labor disputes with industry leaders.
Throughout much of Thursday, more than 1,000 hotel and restaurant workers voted on, and overwhelmingly approved, a four-year contract that their union, UNITE HERE Local 25, spent several months solidifying with more than 20 District hotels and restaurants.
Provisions of that contract include a more-than-25% wage increase over four years, medical, vision, and dental coverage for workers and their families, an expanded pension package, no combination of job duties, and the guarantee of a positive work environment.
For some workers, like Angela Jones, the contract represented the end of a treacherous journey that started during the pandemic.
“We have not had a raise since COVID,” said Jones, a food service aide at Marriott Marquis in Northwest.
She explained the hard times the pandemic presented and continued challenges.
“Some of us didn’t even work. It was miserable, especially if you were used to getting up every day with something to do,” Jones continued as she reflected on the significance of the new contract. “We need extra [money] and we need our pension. It means stability and something we can count on when we leave without running out of our savings.”
In total, UNITE HERE Local 25 represents 6,500 housekeepers, servers, stewards, bellhops and doormen, the vast majority of whom are African American or hail from Central America, the Caribbean and African nations. This contract, which affects nearly 4,000 union workers, comes just weeks after Destination D.C. revealed that visitor spending in 2023 — $10.2 billion — surpassed what the District accumulated annually before the pandemic.
After several months of organizing meetings, UNITE HERE Local 25 came to the negotiating table with industry leaders in February. Negotiations lasted up until the latter part of May, due to what Paul Schwalb, executive secretary treasurer of Unite Here Local 25, described as some contention around the wage increase and how much employers would contribute to workers pensions.
“The industry wasn’t prepared to give that wage increase until,” Schwalb said. “We said we needed to meet significant member challenges, like inflation around childcare and housing and being forced out of D.C. and then being forced out of the suburbs.”
The new contract is scheduled to start on Sept. 16. Workers’ hourly pay will increase by $1.50 on that day.
Six months later, in March 2025, hourly pay will increase by another $1.50. Throughout the four-year term of the contract, workers will see an overall pay increase of $7 per hour. Schwalb told The Informer that housekeepers stand to make $33 per hour while accumulating what he called a healthy pension.
Such an outcome, he said, shows the power of union, especially as the hospitality industry steadily recovers.
“When the industry was weak, the workers were there. The industry should be there for workers when it’s strong,” Schwalb explained. “We’ve been at the table five times with the industry [negotiators]. It was about wages, contributions to the pension fund, and adding Juneteenth as a paid holiday. Things super meaningful for our members.”
Across the country, unions have experienced victories in the auto industry and healthcare field, with the support of leadership in the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that President Joe Biden installed upon entering office in 2021. Such victories, and a fervor for unionizing unlike what’s been in decades, compelled Starbucks to ask the Supreme Court to weigh in on what business leaders call the NLRB’s heavy-handed support of seven Memphis workers who attempted to unionize.
On Thursday, just as UNITE HERE Local 25 workers were voting on their new contract, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Starbucks. Despite that setback, many UNITE HERE Local 25 members, like Gada Tune, relished the moment in front of them, and what it meant for their quality of life.
“We have to talk for the people struggling in the workplace,” said Tune, a restaurant server at the Marriott Marquis.
Tune, 42, counted among those who fought against industry leaders’ attempts to stack responsibilities on employees that extend the scope of their job. He said the new contract not only laid to rest concerns about that issue, but how he could cover unforeseen medical costs for his family.
With full health coverage for him, his wife and two baby daughters, Tune has his sights set on a new goal.
“I want to have my own home in a short period,” said Tune, a Silver Spring, Maryland resident. ‘I used to live in D.C. [before] I moved to Maryland, where everyone doesn’t qualify for healthcare… The union is part of my life. It makes it easy to get a pension and health insurance.”
Danilo Castañeda, a line cook at the Conrad Washington DC, told The Informer that he’s looking forward to a higher salary that will allow him to pay his bills more comfortably while increasing his savings. Though he admitted feeling fearful that negotiations would drag on longer, Castañeda said the process showed him the power of union representation.
“It’s a breath of fresh air,” said Castañeda, 28, a second-generation cook who aspires to become an executive chef. “In a mom-and-pop business, you have to overcome verbal abuse from managers because you [don’t want to] lose your job. With a union, you don’t feel scared.”