Changed Lives

The UNITE HERE Difference

UNITE HERE changes lives by improving wages and benefits in thousands of traditionally low-wage sectors, creating jobs that sustain families.

Too many people who clean rooms and cook food live in poverty. They’re working dead-end jobs with little hope.

At UNITE HERE, we’re changing that. We’re proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish.

 

UNITE HERE members earn more money.

Non-Union vs. UNITE HERE Cities

The greater the concentration of union hotels, the more wages and other benefits go up.

City Indianapolis Chicago Area
Union Hotels 0 59
Hourly Wage $8.50 $18.79
Rooms Cleaned 30+ Up to 16

UNITE HERE members earn more than non-union workers doing the same job in the same city.

In Las Vegas, a full-time UNITE HERE cook earns at around $10,000 a year more than her non-union counterpart. Plus, she earns more than $11,400 in annual benefits, like comprehensive healthcare for her entire family with no monthly premiums, and a pension.

Ending low wages

While many workers have seen their wages stagnate, UNITE HERE workers’ wages have increased dramatically. In Chicago, housekeepers have organized and won wage increases from $8.83 in 2002 to $18.79 in 2016. That’s a difference in annual income of over $18,000 a year. During that same period median non-union wages for housekeepers have only increased from $7.57 to $10.09, less than what is needed to keep up with inflation.

18k per year

Plus in Chicago, a UNITE HERE housekeeper pays just $30 a month to get health insurance that covers her entire family.

Changing Lives Everywhere.

UNITE HERE members won big victories in 2015. Over 500 workers at two Hyatt hotels in San Antonio Texas won a first contract in 2015. Room cleaners will see their wages increase 24% from $11.89 to $14.74. In Toronto and Las Vegas, UNITE HERE workers were among the first to stand up to Donald Trump organizing a union at two of his hotels. Workers are joining UNITE HERE in cities where unions have traditionally been strong—like New York and San Francisco, but also cities like New Orleans, Atlanta, Miami, and Phoenix.

UNITE HERE members earn more.

boston-miamiNon-union Miami housekeepers make an average of $9.50 per hour. Boston union housekeepers average $21.45—more than $10/hour more. That extra money doesn’t come from the price of the room. Full Service hotels on Miami Beach charge around $295 versus $246 in downtown Boston. 

So what’s the difference?

In cities where more hotels are union, all hotel workers earn more money. Miami has three union hotels. Boston has 29. 

 

 

UNITE HERE members stay healthy with comprehensive, affordable health care.

With UNITE HERE, tens of thousands of families have access to high quality care that our members—cooks, room cleaners, and bussers—can actually afford. In cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, members pay $50 or less in monthly premiums to cover their entire families. In Atlantic City and New York, we run our own non-profit health clinics and members pay no premiums at all.
 
Our vision of how healthcare should work centers around fair access to quality services at low costs to patients – and we decided to put that into practice by opening our own top of the line one-stop-shop healthcare centers for our members and their families. Our state-of-the-art, revolutionary full service healthcare clinics available to UNITE HERE members and their families from New York to Nevada have been profiled by The New Yorker, The New York Daily News and others as sustainable models for how disadvantaged communities can access premium care while controlling rising healthcare costs. By putting our own clinics in our own members’ communities and streamlining the healthcare experience to allow visits for medical, primary care, and vision all in the same location, we are systematically removing the hurdle to care access that too many Americans face. Clamping down on costs means our members don’t forgo good raises to keep high quality care. More on UNITE HERE Health Care.

Changing Lives: Beyond the Numbers

UNITE HERE members win more than money and benefits. Here are some other ways UNITE HERE members win positive change through union contracts.

Your Rights

  • Protection against discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender, age, creed, national origin, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity

Your Immigration Status

  • The right to keep your job if your work authorization changes
  • Paid day off for your citizenship ceremony
  • Legal assistance

Your Tips

  • Tip protection and transparency in tip pools
  • Tipped workers can earn premium pay for time off—not just the hourly wage

Your Commute

  • Transit and parking benefits

Your Well-Being

  • Comprehensive health care
  • Paid time off for a yearly wellness visit with your doctor
  • Reasonable workloads
  • Comfortable high heels for servers

Your Time

  • Consistent scheduling
  • Paid breaks, holidays, and sick time
  • Earned paid vacation
  • Minimum shift lengths and hours per week
  • Advance notice of shift changes

Your Future

  • Guaranteed raises
  • Keep your job when a new company takes over
  • Tuition assistance
  • Career training