Workers at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City File for Union Election

The Union has filed Federal Unfair Labor Practice charges against Hyatt and its subcontractor J&B Cleaning

Arlington, Virginia: After over 70% of them signed union authorization cards, housekeepers at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City filed for a union election on Friday. Hyatt workers are organizing for respect on the job, higher pay and benefits, and fair workloads. The workers are organizing with UNITE HERE Local 25, which represents 6,500 hospitality workers in Virginia, D.C., and Maryland.

“I am responsible for cleaning spaces over 14 floors of the hotel during a single shift,” said Aymane Mokrane, a Houseperson at the hotel. “One day recently I was so tired I slept on the floor after getting home, I couldn’t even make it to my bed. We need the same union protections as workers at the Hyatt Regency in Washington have.”

The Federal Government is a major customer of the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, and has spent over $4 million at the hotel in the past ten years. Federal customers of the hotel include the Department of Defense, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Labor, with multiple branches of the military using the hotel for meetings monthly. Other non-union Hyatt hotels in the D.C.-area area are also used regularly by the federal government, like the Hyatt Regency Bethesda, which is frequently used for conferences by NIH and other federal health agencies.

“A supermajority of housekeepers at the Hyatt Crystal City have spoken loud and clear, and they want a union,” said Paul Schwalb, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of UNITE HERE Local 25. “Their work is exhausting and even painful. They deserve the standards, rights, respect, wages and benefits that union hotel workers in D.C.’s Hyatts have won.”

Local 25 has filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge against Hyatt and its subcontractor J&B Cleaning over the use of non-compete policies which bar employees from working at Hyatt for a year if they leave or are terminated from J&B. A second charge filed by the Union alleges that management at the Grand Hyatt D.C. illegally surveilled Hyatt and J&B workers. As the worker organizing spreads from the Hyatt Crystal City and the Grand Hyatt D.C. and workers begin to organize at the Park Hyatt, Hyatt Regency Tysons, Hyatt Regency Reston, Hyatt Regency Dulles, Hyatt Centric Arlington and Hyatt Regency Bethesda, federal employees may be forced to choose whether to cross picket lines late in a tense political cycle.

The Hyatt Crystal City is jointly owned by Hyatt and the Gould Property Company, a powerful local development group.

The Hyatt organizing drive comes amidst a wave of new hotel organizing in the D.C. region and a historic contract victory for union D.C. hotel workers. Just last week, housekeepers at the Royal Sonesta Dupont Circle won union recognition. Last month, D.C. hotel workers overwhelmingly ratified a new contract that will see wages increase to $33 an hour by 2028, protect workers’ free health insurance, increase pension benefits, and preserve good, pre-pandemic working conditions.

John Boardman Announces his Retirement

Washington, D.C. -- John Boardman, the longtime leader of UNITE HERE Local 25, stepped down Monday from his role as Executive Secretary-Treasurer.  During his over 40 years of leadership, John has built Local 25 into a powerful force for hospitality workers in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Under John’s leadership, Local 25 has won groundbreaking contracts, major political victories, and brought thousands of workers into the Union.  

For several decades, John has been a powerful advocate for Local 25’s members and their families in the political arena. His political successes include groundbreaking legislation in the District that regulated short term rentals; protected workers and the industry during the Covid pandemic; free speech guarantees in local noise ordinances; and mandated automatic daily room cleaning of hotel rooms. His political work on behalf of the DMV’s workers goes far beyond Local 25’s members. He played a significant role, for instance, in making sure there was funding for ‘excluded workers’ during the pandemic, when such workers and their communities were enduring tremendous economic hardship.  

Local 25, with John at the helm, organized Union victories at iconic new properties such as the Marriott Marquis, the Trump Hotel/Waldorf Astoria D.C., and the Mandarin Oriental. He helped establish footholds for the Union in Northern Virginia and at National Harbor through the Gaylord. These campaigns guaranteed that Local 25 members did not lose power through successive waves of hotel development in the region. And when MGM opened the first area casino in National Harbor, John fought successfully for the workers there to share in the benefits of Local 25’s contract.  

These contracts have raised standards for workers across the region. They guarantee a $25 minimum wage for Local 25 housekeepers and dishwashers in the District, with access to employer-paid family health care, an employer-funded pension, and a litany of other benefits. Local 25 members consistently describe the respect and dignity they feel at work thanks to the power of the Union’s contracts and effectiveness of its internal organizing. 

John’s departure occurs at a time when energy for new organizing and higher pay is sweeping the country. Hotel workers are angry and know they have immense power in collective action. Local 25 is ready to take advantage of this trend, with a seasoned leadership team poised to step into John’s shoes. The team will be led by Executive Secretary Treasurer Paul Schwalb, who most recently has served as  Local 25 Chief of Staff. Prior to his DC assignment, Paul led UNITE HERE’s 100,000 member Food Service Division through a period of unprecedented growth. He will be joined by Linda Martin, the long-time President of the Local.  With broader leadership from a skilled and long-tenured staff team and Executive Board, Local 25 is well-positioned to confront the immense challenges and opportunities faced by our Local and our movement. 

“John has been an incredible friend, mentor, and leader to me and all of us these past years,” said Linda Martin, President of Local 25. “He will be deeply missed, but thanks to his incredible legacy, we have never been stronger.”  

“It’s been an honor to learn from John over the years, and it’s an honor to step into this new role,” said Paul Schwalb, Local 25’s new Executive-Secretary Treasurer. “Thanks to what John has built, we stand ready to bring new members into the Union, strengthen our already strong contracts, and continue raising the bar regionwide for hospitality workers.”  

“John is a person who is always trying to help everybody else, and the contracts he has won with us do exactly that,” said Lucy Biswas, a Local 25 leader and room attendant at the Washington Hilton for over forty years. “What can I say?  Through all the years I have known him, he has always tried his best so that Local 25 members can be our best.”  

In a message to members, that will be circulated later this week, John said, “I am proud of our past and confident in our future. Local 25’s successes at the picket line and at the bargaining table have always been worker led. Our members fuel the District’s economy and the properties they work in would be nothing without their hard work. I have always fought to make sure that this hard work was recognized and appropriately compensated. I leave office believing we have accomplished much towards that goal.”

Hospitality Workers Endorse Zachary Parker for Ward 5

Washington, D.C. – UNITE HERE Local 25, which represents over 7,200 hospitality workers in the D.C. region, today announced its support for Zachary Parker in the competitive Ward 5 primary.  

“As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, D.C. is at a crossroads – will working families have a place in the District’s future, or will we be priced out?” said Sam Epps, Political Director of UNITE HERE Local 25. “We believe that Zachary has the values, experience, and instincts to be a champion for workers as we fight for our share of D.C.’s economic recovery. We need more voices like his on the Council, and we’re proud to endorse him today.” 

A lifelong advocate and leader, Mr. Parker and his family have themselves struggled with inequitable access to healthcare and education, giving him a firsthand perspective on the District's systemic injustices. Local 25 was particularly inspired by Mr. Parker’s deep knowledge of labor issues and his campaign’s insistence that developers must do their part to create good jobs for District residents. 

As ballots are mailed out and early voting begins, Local 25 members will mobilize to knock doors and phonebank in Ward 5 for Mr. Parker and other endorsees.  

Local 25 Endorses Janeese Lewis George and Jordan Grossman

The Executive Board of UNITE HERE Local 25, a hospitality workers union that represents over 7,200 members in the D.C. region, voted this week to endorse D.C. Council candidates Janeese Lewis George in Ward 4 and Jordan Grossman in Ward 2. The Union believes that this election, coming in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, is a critical opportunity to elect bold progressive leaders to champion workers’ issues on the D.C. Council.

“Hospitality workers in the District are facing incredible hardship right now,” said Local 25 Political Director Sam Epps. “But that means we need to do more, not less, to elect Councilmembers committed to ending D.C.’s crisis of racial and economic inequality. Our members know that Jordan and Janeese are the leaders we need to do just that.”

Local 25 and our endorsed candidates are committed to following physical distancing rules. The Union plans to engage in an extensive phone-banking campaign to support endorsees. “We will not let the pandemic get in the way of our members’ political needs and aspirations,” Epps added.

Regina Welch, a Local 25 member and D.C. resident who participated in a virtual townhall with the candidates last week, said she was “blown away” by Grossman and Lewis George. “From fighting for affordable housing and rent control to creating and protecting good union jobs, I think electing these candidates could change the way the District treats workers.”

In addition to Lewis George and Grossman, Local 25 has endorsed Vincent Gray in Ward 7, Robert White for an at-large seat, and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton for reelection to Congress.

WAMU: MGM Grand National Harbor Workers Worried New Ownership Will Cost Jobs

The MGM Grand National Harbor is one of the top-grossing casinos for its parent company MGM Resorts International. But union employees are concerned that changes to its ownership structure could result in downsizing at the casino.

In a precautionary move, union workers gave public testimony Thursday asking Maryland’s Gaming Commission to increase regulation on hedge funds seeking stakes in casinos. Union workers are worried that MGM’s new relationship with hedge funds Corvex Capital and Lands & Buildings could influence staffing levels at the National Harbor casino.

Read the fully story here.

WAMU: An Update On Metrorail’s Late-Night Service

The Federal Transit Administration announced that it might pull $1.6 billion in funding from the Washington region if WMATA decides to extend its Metrorail hours. The FTA cites safety concerns: Extended service hours would cut into overnight Metrorail maintenance.

This puts a wrinkle in the debate about extending Metrorail hours. Proponents of longer hours say that the current schedule disproportionately affects workers in the hospitality industry, who struggle to find reliable, affordable transportation once Metrorail closes. But others are worried that extending the hours would lead to more delays for daytime riders and an economic loss for the WMATA, since Metrorail maintenance would need to shift to daytime hours.

Listen to the segment here.

Washington Post: Metro to subsidize Uber & Lyft fares to fill late-night service gap

UNITE HERE Local 25, a hospitality union representing about 7,500 workers in the D.C. region, seized on the Metro plan as a “PR stunt.”

“Local 25 is deeply skeptical of [Metro’s] reported plan to subsidize ride-sharing instead of re­instating extended service hours,” the union said in a statement. “That [Metro’s] plan essentially proposes to privatize a part of our public transportation infrastructure in the process only adds insult to injury.”

Read the full story here.

Curbed: D.C. Council gives final approval to Airbnb regulations

D.C. residents who use Airbnb or similar booking services to rent out their homes will likely have to abide by new regulations starting next October, when they are set to go into effect. The policies represent the first time the city has charted comprehensive laws for short-term rental units—an effort that has sparked a fierce debate spanning roughly the past two years.

Read the full story here.

Jaffe Report: Winners and Losers in the DC Election

“John Boardman and Dyana Forester: The District’s unions went head to head with the developers and the business community in the at-large race — and beat them badly. Boardman’s UniteHere Local 25 of the Hotel Workers union put feet on the ground for Silverman, along with Forester’s United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400. Service employees (SEIU) and the Laborers union backed Silverman as well. In the coming political and policy battles, the unions put themselves in position to push around the business side, thanks to their support of Silverman.”

Read the full story here.