One of the largest hospitality unions in the United States is joining forces with the lobbying arm of the hotel industry to call on Congress for direct money to hotels suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The American Hotel & Lodging Association released a joint statement with UNITE HERE, a union of hotel and hospitality employees with more than 300,000 members, asking Congress to pass the Save Hotel Jobs Act.
Introduced by Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Florida U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, the bill would direct a fund of $20 billion to go toward hotel payroll expenses and creates a tax credit for workers. It also adds a guarantee for laid-off employees to get the right to return when their previous employers begin hiring again.
“No industry has been more affected by the pandemic than hospitality,” AHLA president Chip Rogers said in a statement. “Government-issued travel bans and restrictions, which are meant to slow the spread of the virus, have wiped out 10 years of job growth in our industry.”
The statement from AHLA and UNITE HERE claims that hotels are the segment of the hospitality industry that did not receive direct COVID-19 aid, showing $84 billion was designated for airlines, live events and restaurants.
However, hotels have been major recipients of PPP loans throughout the pandemic. For example, Texas hotel magnate Monty Bennett, whose company owns the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota among others, was criticized when it was found he had gained more than $74 million in the loans meant to help small businesses. He returned the money after it sparked a national outrage.
A February report in RestaurantBusinessOnline.com found that hotels and restaurants have accounted for $18 billion of PPP money made available since January 2021, or 18% of the total money distributed.
Orlando’s hotel industry saw some of the deepest cuts from the pandemic, with more than 10,000 hotel employees being laid off or furloughed over the past year. Occupancy rates in Central Florida hotels dropped below 20% in March and April last year.
Revenue rates in Orlando have hit nearly 50% of pre-pandemic levels this year, and hotel and resort chains such as Loews and Westgate have held hiring fairs in the past two months.
But UNITE HERE president D. Taylor said that 70% of his members remain out of work.
In Orlando, UNITE HERE Local 737 represents 12,00 members, down from 19,000 before the pandemic.
A representative from Local 737 declined to comment on the Save Hotel Jobs Act.
