The strike is part of a wave of recent labor actions in the nation’s second-largest metropolis, where high costs of living have made it difficult for many workers — from housekeepers to Hollywood writers — to stay afloat.
The deal boosts some wages to $31 an hour. It reflects pressure hotels face to raise pay amid inflation and labor shortages. The hike is closing the gap between the 7,000 covered suburban workers and their union counterparts in New York City.
In Nevada, Arizona, and Pennsylvania, the union has been talking to voters about progressive fixes to inflation for months, when Democrats didn’t know what to say.
The heroes of this election season are the millions of citizen volunteers who texted, phoned and post carded, but perhaps the biggest contribution nationally was the work of the beleaguered HERE which lost 80% of its members due to COVID impacts.
Some labor historians say this new militancy resembles the 1930s, when a huge strike wave helped lead to landmark pro-labor legislation and one of the biggest bursts of unionization in American history.
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