Union pushes city, Houston First to assist laid-off hotel workers
Local 23 of Unite Here, the hospitality union representing about 2,000 Houston workers, filed a petition this week urging the city to waive payments from Houston First, the city’s convention arm, to help cover expiring health care benefits for roughly 800 employees who have been laid off since March.
The city owns the George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston First owns the Hilton Hotel of the Americas and, while heavily subsidized by the city, the adjacent Marriott Marquis is privately owned. Workers at the downtown hub are largely employed by private companies contracted to operate the facilities.
Houston First, an outgrowth of the city’s entertainment facilities department, collects hotel occupancy taxes on the city’s behalf and uses the funds to operate the facilities. Under a lease agreement, Houston First is slated to pay the city $1.45 million this year, according to Jonathan Newport, its vice president of public policy.
Benefits for the housekeepers, cooks and banquet servers are set to expire June 30, and the city and Houston First, its convention arm, are in a position to help, said Bo Delp, senior political organizer for Local 23 of Unite Here.
“Many of our members are already struggling to pay for food, and to pay rent and to take care of
their families,” he said. “And losing health insurance coverage means, for many, making difficult choices around treating pre-existing conditions, seeing a doctor and getting the medical care that they need during this global pandemic.”
Unite Here has asked the city not to collect funds under the agreement, instead allowing Houston
First to redirect them to workers’ health care plans.
“We don’t know what this would accomplish other than hurting the city,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said in an emailed response to the petition.
The affected workers make between $11 and $13 an hour, Delp said. Some lost employer-provided insurance on May 31, he said, while the rest will lose employer contributions to their plans later this month.
Newport said the decision to waive lease fees ultimately resides with the city. If the administration did decide to provide Houston First that relief, he said the government corporation, which manages 10 city-owned buildings, would first need to discuss covering obligations to its own employees.
The organization’s revenue is down about 50 percent, he said, noting the organization relies on hotel occupancy taxes, parking and venue revenues.
“And as you can imagine, all of those are significantly down and not projected to get any better this year,” he said.
Petty Padilla, a banquet server at the Hilton, said she was laid off in March after working at the hotel full-time for about seven years. Unemployment benefits help make ends meet, she said, but losing employer-provided health insurance would mean an additional $900 a month in costs.
Padilla supports two children and a grandchild, she said. And so money is already tight.
“If we pay the insurance, we’re not going to be able to eat,” she said.
Delp said the unique relationship between City Hall and Houston First empowers them to step in.
“The city actually has the power to fix this,” he said. “And that’s what we’re asking them to do.”