Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we'll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
Workers at the InterContinental on the Wharf are poised to win their union, UNITE HERE Local 25. In an agreement finalized today between InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) and the union, IHG has agreed to an expedient, neutral process for union recognition and bargaining for a first contract. Local 25 took action with a boycott of non-union IHG properties in the D.C. area. The overwhelming majority of workers have already signed authorization cards.
“I am so proud of what we’ve won together,” said Wes Waterhouse, a server and bartender at the InterContinental Restaurant. “It’s been a fight to get here, but we have won exactly what we’ve demanded all along: a chance to make our hospitality jobs sustainable for our careers.”
The workers are organizing for respect from management, higher wages, better health care benefits and greater transparency around wages.
“When hospitality workers stand up for their rights and organize together, we win,” said Paul Schwalb, executive secretary-treasurer of UNITE HERE Local 25. “Workers at the former Moon Rabbit [DC] restaurant and InterContinental on the Wharf are about to become the newest members of our union and are on a pathway to reaping the benefits of one of the strongest hotel workers’ contracts in the country. We applaud IHG for doing the right thing here. We appreciate their commitment to an expedited and fair bargaining process.”