АҚШ және Канада кәсіби одағы: UNITE HERE дауы мен келіспеушіліктері

Labor union in the United States and Canada

UNITE HERE is a labor union in the United States and Canada with roughly 300,000 active members. On September 17, 2009, UNITE HERE announced that it would re affiliate with the AFL–CIO.

The merger of UNITE and HERE faced initial difficulties due to disagreements between its leaders. By 2007, Raynor was accusing Wilhelm of stifling change, and Wilhelm was angry at Raynor's "heavy handed" managerial style. In late 2008, General President Bruce Raynor and 15 local and regional UNITE HERE affiliates in the laundry and garment industries filed lawsuits against Hospitality Division President John Wilhelm, accusing him and his division of fraud, theft, gross mismanagement of $61 million in funds committed to union organizing drives, and failing to resolve members' grievances. Raynor also accused Wilhelm and his allies of attempting to impose their will on the executive board and the majority of members. and dual unionism for continuing to press for the disaffiliation of the garment division affiliates after the UNITE HERE executive board had voted down the proposal. Workers United immediately affiliated with SEIU. Joseph T. Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), attempted to mediate a solution in mid April, proposing (among other things) that UNITE HERE take jurisdiction over workers in the gaming industry and hotels; that Workers United take jurisdiction over workers in textiles and laundries; and that the two unions split organizing in food service. American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten urged the sides to settle as well, writing a letter to both Raynor and Wilhelm cautioning that "This conflict is causing collateral damage. The longer it continues, the less likely we are to enact a strong Employee Free Choice Act." Wilhelm suspended Raynor on May 15. At 4:00 AM on May 22, UNITE HERE's executive board and John Wilhelm ordered security guards to secure Raynor's New York City office and prevent Raynor and his allies from entering. Wilhelm said he acted to prevent the destruction of documents, and that Raynor's staff had already removed hundreds of documents and scrubbed computer hard drives clean. Juan Gonzalez, a columnist for New York Daily News, reported on June 16, 2009, that Raynor had transferred more than $12 million to affiliates which supported him as well as to groups outside the union. The transfers allegedly included:
A January 31, 2009, transfer of $457,981 to The Organizing Group, a consulting firm founded by Steve Rosenthal (a close associate of former SEIU President Andrew Stern). The Organizing Group, the paper said, used the money to mail and call to UNITE HERE members and advocate for disaffiliation, and to set up a pro disaffiliation Web site. On July 25, 2010, SEIU and UNITE HERE announced they had resolved their 18 month long dispute. As part of the agreement, ownership of the Amalgamated Bank will be transferred to Workers United (pending approval of federal banking regulators). UNITE HERE retained ownership of the union's headquarters in New York City and an additional $75 million in assets. In 2016, the union conducted a survey of about 500 hotel workers. It found that 58 percent of hotel employees and 77 percent of casino workers said they had been sexually harassed. 49 percent of housekeepers claimed to have been subject to indecent exposure. The survey was supposedly in response to a case where a waitress at Neil Bluhm's Rivers Casino was pulled onto the lap of a guest and asked for oral sex. UNITE HERE has proposed legislation that would ban hotel guests who have sexually harassed an employee. The union also supported requiring hotels to give "panic buttons" to any employees who work alone in guest rooms. Unionized hotels would be exempt from these rules.

UNITE HERE organized a multi city strike against Marriott Hotels in fall 2018—the largest multi city hotel workers' strike to date. Citing Marriott's failure to negotiate key issues, 8,300 Marriott workers from across the US voted to authorize a strike in September 2018. Workers in San Francisco and Boston were the first to take action on October 3 and 4, followed by workers in San Diego, Oakland, Hawaii, Detroit and San Jose, affecting 23 hotels overall. Workers struck for weeks, often in severe weather conditions, for better job security and living wages. While the specific demands varied from property to property, workers rallied around the idea that "One job should be enough," with many citing a need to work two to three jobs in order to make ends meet. Settlements began to be reached between Marriott and the various UNITE HERE locals in late November. The last contract was ratified in San Francisco on December 3, with 99.6% of the 2,500 local members voting in favor. Across the country, the newly ratified contracts included significant increases to wages and other benefits, as well as stronger protections against sexual harassment in the workplace.

On July 2, 2023, UNITE HERE's Local 11 chapter, which represents 15,000 workers at 61 hotels in the Los Angeles area, initiated a labor strike. By September 2023, the strike was reported to be the largest hotel strike in the history of Southern California. As of October 2023, the strike was still ongoing, with only four hotels securing a labor agreement by October 25. The strike continued into November 2023 as well. By January 2024, only 28 of the hotels affected by the strike had reached new labor agreements. By February 2024, 34 of the hotels targeted by the strike had reached new contract agreements.

On February 13, 2024 food and beverage workers at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) who are members of UNITE HERE Local 11 would go on strike for a three day period. This was followed on February 14, 2024 with dozens of employees at Los Angeles Grand Hotel who were also members of UNITE HERE Local 11 also going on strike, demanding better wages and increased staffing.

2004: Bruce S. Raynor
2009: John W. Wilhelm
2012: D. Taylor