​Hotel Workers at Hyatt Regency Baltimore Ratify New Union Contract

Members of UNITE HERE Local 7 and International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 37 voted Tuesday evening to accept a new union contract with their employer, the Hyatt Regency Baltimore Hotel located at 300 Light Street in Baltimore.

Under the new five-year agreement non-tipped employees’ wages will increase by $1.10 an hour within five months of the ratification. By December 1 of 2020 all non-tipped wages will have gone up by $1.66/hour making the lowest paid classification rate $15.00 an hour. The range for non-tipped minimum classification rates today is $13.34 to $22.36.   By the end of the agreement the range will be $16.20 to $25.22.

For tipped workers the current range for minimum classification rate is   $5.10 to $10.80  by the end of the agreement the range will be $6.20 to $11.90

Reaching the $15.00/hour before the end of 2020 was a major goal of the union.

Another important union goal was achieved for Banquet Servers who will start getting an addition 1% of the service charge added to guests food and beverage charge in their tip pool.  This will result in an increase equivalent to approximately $3.44 per hour for banquet bartenders, servers and coffee break attendants.

The Union also kept important “room drops” for housekeeper so that they will not be required to clean more than 14 check out rooms in a day and will drop a room for every floor they have to go to, in order to clean their assigned rooms.

Housekeepers and bell staff will receive increases in the money for special duties and errands.

Another important feature of the agreement is that the Hotel will contribute to the IUOE National Training Fund that supports a State of the Art training center located in Houston, Texas.  The training facility will be available to Baltimore IUOE members at no cost to the member including travel, room and board.  The Hotel will also contribute to a fund for UNITE HERE Local 7 members designed to provide scholarships to the children and grandchildren of members and prepare members to move up the job ladder in the hospitality industry.
 
Negotiations at the Hilton Baltimore, Marriott Waterfront, Radisson Hotel and Crown Plaza Hotel are ongoing. Negotiations at the Hilton Baltimore ae scheduled for Friday October 25th.

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