Millions of Americans are set to lose federal benefits Monday that have helped them make ends meet during the COVID-19 pandemic with the CARES Act expiring.
In Boston, UNITE HERE Local 26, which represents workers in hospitality industries, is concerned about what the loss of the benefits will mean for its members in the hotel sector.
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UNITE HERE Local 26 President Carlos Aramayo said that, while the union’s food service members have mostly been able to get back to work, it’s a different story for those in the hotel industry.
Those workers are deeply concerned about the end of the federal unemployment benefits, according to Aramayo.
“And also concerned that the hotel industry is, unfortunately, using the pandemic to make changes to guest services that’s making it much more difficult for people to get their jobs back,” he said.
Aramayo said that, in other markets, hotels are ending daily room cleaning, and locally, amenities such as in-room dining and floor deliveries by bellmen are being scaled back. Some hotel restaurants also aren’t reopening, or reopening with only a skeleton staff.
The union is trying to get hotel workers new jobs, he said, but placement isn’t easy.
“The concern I have is, someone who’s making 26, 27 dollars an hour can’t go immediately to a minimum-wage job, right? Because their lives are set up around higher income,” he said. “And so that’s some of the pressures I think we’re seeing on the labor marker across the sector.”
Aramayo said UNITE HERE Local 26 will continue to advocate for hotels to reopen fully and bring back as many jobs as they can.
