(NEW YORK CITY) – Hotel and Gaming Trades Council-represented Workers employed at the Jewel Hotel in Midtown Manhattan have won their first Union contract - a victory seven years in the making. In June, the Jewel Hotel Workers authorized a Strike for a fair contract. Jewel management saw the Workers were united, serious, and ready to Strike. They watched as the Jewel Workers showed up day after day to the nearby picket line at the Fairfield & Four Points Times Square in solidarity with their Union Brothers and Sisters. And, fearing an impending Strike outside their own hotel, management caved and has signed the Industry Wide Agreement (IWA). While nothing about their fight was easy, everything about it has been life-changing. Workers organized in 2019 and stayed strong throughout the Hotel closing during COVID and the multi-year fight to get the Hotel to sign the IWA. “I was one of the first ones to come and try to unite, to get the crew together,” said Edward, a Houseman at the Jewel. “And I just can’t believe the time has come. I mean it’s surreal.”

NYC Central Labor Council’s Editor’s Note: Watch video of the workers finding out they won their contract here!