Dive Brief:
- Union workers in Houston launched an initiative to advocate for a $23 minimum wage for hospitality workers at a summit with city leaders Wednesday, hospitality union Unite Here Local 23 announced in a release obtained by Hotel Dive.
- Union workers and city leaders, including Houston City Council Members Joaquin Martinez and Tiffany Thomas, discussed the need for a livable wage, as workers in the city claim they aren’t benefiting from Houston’s tourism boom, which saw a record-breaking 54 million people visit the city in 2024.
- Unite Here Local 23 represents some 3,000 hospitality workers in Houston. A union spokesperson told Hotel Dive that contracts for nearly all of them are up for negotiations this year — and that strikes are on the table if hotel employers don’t meet their demands.
Dive Insight:
Unite Here Local 23 said its union workers at Houston’s Hilton Americas, Marriott Marquis, George R. Brown Convention Center and the George Bush Intercontinental Airport report struggling to pay their bills, with some facing eviction.
“The hotel is very busy and big groups are coming in, but I’m living paycheck to paycheck because what I make is not enough,” Juanita Thomas, a laundry attendant of 21 years at the Hilton Americas making $16.50 an hour, said in a statement.
William Gonzalez, the union’s secretary treasurer, told Hotel Dive that the union is preparing for contract negotiations later this year to “balance the power between these employers that are making billions of dollars in Houston, and the workers that are barely making $16 or $17 and can't pay their rent.”
In 2024, overall hotel revenue in the city grew 15.5% to $3 billion while the Bush Airport reported record passenger volume, according to Unite Here.
Several other Unite Here chapters won higher wages following nationwide strikes last year, which saw more than 13,000 union workers walk off the job. Gonzalez said Local 23 is “looking at what they did,” and that “strikes are a very real possibility.”
“Every year, millions of people visit our great city and it is our hospitality that brings them back. Workers are at the front line of our hospitality industry and I support them in their efforts for fair wages,” said Houston City Council Member Tiffany Thomas on Wednesday.
Tariffs and economic uncertainty, however, could threaten hotel profits and tourism volume in 2025, experts previously told Hotel Dive.
