Arlington, VA – Hotel workers at four Northern Virginia Hilton hotels voted overwhelmingly last week to ratify a new four-year contract with historic wage gains of over 19 percent in addition to significant benefit increases. The agreement was reached between the union and bargaining representatives from Hilton on Tuesday, October 29.
Contract highlights include:
- A $7 per hour raise, with a $3 raise in the first year of the contract – by far the most significant pay increase Northern Virginia union hotel workers have ever won
- Employers will make higher contributions to the pension, which will increase its payout when members retire
- Preservation of affordable healthcare for Local 25 workers
- Juneteenth as a paid holiday
The contract will retroactively take effect beginning on October 16, 2024 (except at the Hilton National Landing, where it will retroactively take effect beginning November 20, 2024) and run through October 31, 2028. The tentative agreement from October 29th became official during last week’s ratification votes at each of the four hotels: Hilton National Landing, Hilton McLean Tysons Corner, Doubletree Crystal City, and Embassy Suites Crystal City.
“This new contract signals the rapidly growing power of hotel workers in Northern Virginia,” said Local 25 Executive Secretary-Treasurer and chief negotiator Paul Schwalb. “Just like our members in DC and National Harbor, Virginia workers face staggering costs of housing, groceries, and utility bills. Now, they will earn their fair share of the enormous profits they are producing for the hotel industry.”
Contract bargaining began in August. Hundreds of Local 25 workers attended open bargaining sessions, delivered petitions to their managers, and turned out in large numbers to rally and march for a fair contract in Arlington. This settlement averts a strike vote, which would have been on the table if the union and Hilton failed to reach an agreement by October 31.
“We fought hard to win these raises,” said Sonia Barrientos, a housekeeper at Hilton McLean. “This money in this new contract is really going to change our lives. Instead of taking things off our grocery lists, we can actually afford what we need to take care of our families.”
“I’ve dedicated over 30 years of my life to the hotel. I went to every single bargaining session I could go to because I wanted to win a stronger pension” said Lulite Mengiste, a cashier at Hilton National Landing. “Now that we’ve won, I feel like I can retire more comfortably.”
Across the DMV region, non-union workers are stepping up to organize their co-workers and fight for the Local 25 standard. In August, 68% of the housekeepers at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City voted to unionize with UNITE HERE Local 25.
UNITE HERE Local 25 represents 6,500 hotel, restaurant, and gaming workers in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.