Service + Solidarity Spotlight: UNITE HERE Members Hold Day of Action to Fight for More Good Jobs

Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our regular Service + Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.

Workers’ renewed action has made headlines during #Striketober, and hospitality workers are fighting for a recovery with good jobs under the banner “Come Back Stronger.” On Thursday, thousands of members of UNITE HERE in 29 cities across the United States and Canada held a day of action, including marches, pickets, rallies, a unionization vote and a strike authorization vote. At the peak of the shutdown, 98% of the union’s members in hospitality were out of work, still UNITE HERE has been a model of resiliency. Now, many hospitality workers say their jobs haven’t come back even as business rebounds and employers complain of a labor shortage.

“Workers are fed up with bad jobs and unsafe working conditions, and now they’re seizing the moment to come back stronger in an economy that has favored too few for too long,” said D. Taylor, president of UNITE HERE. “Every time there’s a crisis, the hospitality industry cuts jobs to boost profits, but we are fighting for a recovery where no one gets left behind. We are the Comeback Union, and we are determined to fight for one another, to bring the good jobs back and grow the union movement.”