Hotel and Gaming Trades Council

Hotel and Gaming Trades Council

Founded	1938 (1938)
Headquarters	New York, New York
Location	United States
Members	nearly 40,000 (2025)
President	Rich Maroko
Affiliations	AFL-CIO
Website	hotelworkers.org

The Hotel and Gaming Trades Council (HTC), often shortened to just the Hotel Trades Council is a labor union that represents nearly 40,000 hotel and casino employees in the New York metropolitan area. It is affiliated with the AFL-CIO. ^[1]

History

In 1912, the New York City waiters' strike broke out, marking one of the first attempts at unionization by hotel workers. ^[2] Following multiple failed attempts, the HTC was founded in 1938, with their first city contract being struck the following year. ^[3] Later in 1939, the union threatened strikes against hotels that had yet to negotiate contracts with them. ^[4] In 1957, Martin Luther King Jr. gave an address to members of the HTC, receiving their annual Better Race Relations Award. ^[5] While the HTC is mostly based in New York City, roughly 9,000 of their members live in New Jersey, which has seen an uptick in organizing from the group since 2015. ^[6]

References

1. "Who We Are" . Retrieved October 30, 2025.
2. Melvyn Dubofsky (1968). When Workers Organize: New York City in the Progressive Era . Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press. pp.  120–5. ISBN   0-87023-042-5. New York City waiters strike.
3. "History" . Retrieved October 30, 2025.
4. "UNION WARNS 40 HOTELS; Trades Council Says It Will Take 'Action' to Get Contracts". The New York Times . August 6, 1939. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
5. "Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 1957 address to our Union". January 16, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
6. Pizarro, Max (September 15, 2025). "The Hotel and Gaming Trades Council Backs Sherrill for Governor" . Retrieved October 30, 2025.