As hotel-labor contracts signed before the Covid pandemic near their expiration, unionized workers at big-city properties in particular are seeing significant pay raises in their latest contract agreements. Since late 2023, this has happened in Orlando, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and other popular meeting destinations.
In early June, Washington, D.C. joined that list. With a new four-year contract between 20 hotels and Unite Here Local 25, more than 4,000 hotel workers in the District will see, as of mid-September, a roughly 25-percent wage increase and improved benefits.
As part of the agreement, workers will get a $7-per-hour raise immediately, with an additional $3-per-hour raise in the first year for non-tipped workers. The hotels will make additional contributions to workers' pensions and increase the payout upon a union member’s retirement, and workers will maintain free health care. Lastly, language was preserved from the previous contract, signed in 2019, that relates to job combinations, weekend shifts, and room-cleaning workloads. In many other cities, those terms were altered during the pandemic and remain in place today.
Nearly all of the unionized employees across the 20 properties voted in favor of the deal. The new contract will take effect on September 16 and will expire on September 15, 2028.
Most of the 20 D.C. hotels involved in the deal are meetings-focused properties, including:
Capital Hilton
Conrad, Washington D.C.
Courtyard and Residence Inn Downtown/Convention Center
Hay Adams Hotel
Hilton Capitol Hill
Hotel Washington
Hyatt Regency Washington
Kimpton Hotel Monaco Washington D.C.
Madison Downtown Washington D.C.
Salamander Washington DC (formerly Mandarin Oriental Hotel)
Marriott Marquis Washington, D.C.
The Mayflower Hotel
Omni Shoreham Hotel
St. Regis Hotel
Waldorf Astoria Washington D.C.
Washington Hilton
