The leading hospitality union in the US expects 80% to 90% of its 300,000 members will be unemployed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Unite Here’s prediction impacts mostly women, who make up the organization’s ranks and work in hotels, airports and casinos, all which already have been hard hit from a drop in business and closings related to the deadly outbreak.
Union officials say hospitality industry workers are facing an unprecedented crisis and that members of Congress and the White House need to put workers at the center of any rescue packages.
The leading hospitality union in the US expects 80% to 90% of its 300,000 members will be unemployed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Pictured is a Boston hotel property operated by Mariott, which is laying off thousands of employees
Union president D. Taylor panned an emergency paid leave bill passed Saturday by the US House of Representatives as ‘completely ridiculous,’ charging that it has huge carve-outs and doesn’t go far enough to help workers
Taylor also criticized President Trump’s plan to send Americans up to two $1,000 checks as also insufficient
Union president D. Taylor panned an emergency paid leave bill passed Saturday by the US House of Representatives as ‘completely ridiculous,’ charging that it has huge carve-outs and doesn’t go far enough to help workers, Huffington Post reports.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday he also said President Trump’s plan to send Americans up to two $1,000 checks as also insufficient since the amounts barely cover rent costs in most large cities.
The coronavirus has infected thousands around the globe.
In the US, the flu-like virus also known as COVID-19, has been confirmed in 7,898 cases and blamed for at least 121 known deaths.
The US has 7,898 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for 121 deaths in the states
‘They’ve met with the titans of industry and that’s great. But we all know what we face right now,’ Taylor said, referring to members of Congress and the White House.
‘I’m very worried that the American worker is not at the table, just American industry.’
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has reportedly warned that the US could see an unemployment rate of 20 per cent as the coronavirus plunges the economy into a recession.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has reportedly warned that the US could see an unemployment rate of 20 per cent as the coronavirus plunges the economy into a recession
On Tuesday, it was revealed that a global recession has already begun due to the spread of COVID-19 as major companies begin laying off employees worldwide and a fifth of US workers say that they have already lost wages due to the crisis.
Airlines, hotel companies and the gaming industries have appealed to the federal government for assistance, with the White House reportedly considering aid, including low- or zero-interest loans and tax payment deferrals.
Taylor said that bailouts need to make sure they take into account increased unemployment insurance, paid sick leave, money for food stamps and housing, as well as guarantees on continued health care for workers who lose their jobs.
‘We need to get workers bailed out and secure,’ he said.
The union pointed out significant business declines that have impacted its membership, especially on the West Coast, where some of the first known outbreaks began.
In San Francisco, many hotels where union members work saw occupancy rates drop down to a stunning 10 per cent.
In Seattle and Portland, between 4,000 and 4,500 of the union’s 5,500 members are already out of work.
The union has 60,000 workers in Las Vegas, where the entire gaming industry has been shut down, and the numbers get worse every day, Unite Here leaders said.
The union has 60,000 workers in Las Vegas, where the entire gaming industry has been shut down, and the numbers get worse every day, Unite Here leaders said
Showgirls Tatiana Vaske, 21, (right) and Yasmeen Rubin, 25, (left) said they used to make $600 a day in tips for posing for pictures with tourists, but saw earnings drop to $150 due to the coronavirus
Casino operations in the Nevada gambling mecca closed Monday, followed by MGM Resorts International’s hotel operations.
The company with properties including the Bellagio, MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay said on Sunday that it will not take reservations prior to May 1.
The impacts of the virus were even felt by Las Vegas exotic dancers, who claimed they gave lap dances to clients with strict orders to not touch back.
Showgirls Tatiana Vaske, 21, and Yasmeen Rubin, 25, told DailyMail.com that since the virus pandemic, their daily earnings have also taken a hit.
They said they used to pull in about $600 a day in tips for posing for pictures with tourists, now they are lucky to make $150. But still, they said they aren’t too concerned about catching the virus from customers.
‘I think I have a better chance of winning the lottery than catching coronavirus,’ Vaske said. ‘I’m more worried about putting food on my table and paying rent.’
Unite Here praised Wynn Resorts, Disney and other companies that have vowed to pay employees while out of work, and were critical of employers like Marriott, which is furloughing workers but not making similar guarantees on pay.
Mnuchin previously said that he hoped the government’s stimulus plan would help laid-off hotel workers as it was announced that the Marriott group was going to furloughing workers.
Marriott- which has 130,00 employees in the US – would be furloughing a large chunk of them as it was forced to close properties.
‘The social safety net is no net,’ Erik Van Rossum, president of Unite Here Local 8 in Seattle said. ‘The holes are so big that people are falling through.’
Another significant blow to hospitality workers came in the restaurant industry, when Union Square Hospitality Group, the New York City restaurant giant, laid off 2,000 workers, or 80 percent of the company’s workforce.
Famed restaurateur Danny Meyer’s company put the layoffs into effect on Wednesday morning ‘due to a near-complete elimination of revenue,’ the company told the New York Times.