Four months before their existing contracts were set to expire, more than 600 Hilton Hotel workers represented by Unite Here Local 1 and Local 450 have reached a five-year contract settlement with the hotel chain.
Workers’
from the Drake, Palmer House Hilton, Chicago Hilton, and Hilton O’Hare
voted Saturday to ratify the agreement with the Virginia-based hotel chain, well before the August 31 contract expiration date.
“This is really significant in that this has all
been done before the expiration of the current contract,” said Carly
Karmel, spokesperson for Unite Here.
In what has been described by disability-rights advocates as nothing
short of a fight over equal access rights, a coalition of organizations
unveiled plans Wednesday to boycott some of the nation’s leading hotels
over their efforts to delay the enforcement of federal guidelines
requiring the installation of permanent wheelchair lifts that allow
disabled guests entry to swimming pools.
At issue has been debate over specific guidelines set forth in 2010 as part of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regarding access to pools for people with disabilities. This past January, the U.S. Department of Justice
(DOJ) revised those standards, requiring a number of hotels by March 15 to
install pool lifts that were permanently “fixed” next to a pool at all
times. The deadline, however, was subsequently extended to May 21 — due in
large part to an extensive lobbying campaign by industry trade organizations.
Four months before their existing contracts were set to expire, more than 600 
In what has been described by disability-rights advocates as nothing
short of a fight over equal access rights, a coalition of organizations
unveiled plans Wednesday to boycott some of the nation’s leading hotels
over their efforts to delay the enforcement of federal guidelines
requiring the installation of permanent wheelchair lifts that allow
disabled guests entry to swimming pools. 