50+ NYC Organizations, Tourism Leaders Praise HANYC for Avoiding World Cup Strike by Scoring Union Contract
“A strike would have been terrible for us and our local economy. Thank you to the Hotel Association of New York City for managing to avoid disaster and get a fair contract for both sides despite tremendous economic headwinds.”
NEW YORK, NY (05/19/2026) (readMedia)– More than 50 key stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality sectors today praised the Hotel Association of New York City (HANYC) for scoring a new union contract and avoiding a potential hotel union strike ahead of the World Cup next month. The leaders emphasized that hotels are essential to supporting nearly 400,000 workers across the city’s tourism and hospitality industries, and that keeping hotels open was critical to our local economy.
On Monday, HANYC reached a deal with the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, AFL-CIO (HTC) and ratified a fair, nation-leading eight-year contract that continues the hotel industry’s long history of providing the best wages and benefits in the country in line with previous compensation, while adding provisions to keep healthcare costs under control.
“This agreement is a major win for New York businesses and workers who rely on a strong hotel industry, especially the small businesses that are the backbone of the city’s tourism economy. With the World Cup approaching, neighborhood restaurants and bars, retail shops, and other local businesses are preparing to welcome visitors from around the world. This deal provides the stability and certainty needed to help maximize that economic opportunity for them and the workers and families they support. We’re thankful for the hotel industry’s continued leadership in supporting not only hotel workers, but all of the workers that rely on it,” said Frank Garcia, Chairman of the New York Multicultural Business Coalition. “Any disruption to the hospitality sector at this critical moment from a hotel strike, new regulations, or a lack of support from City officials would put those opportunities at risk, affecting businesses that help drive New York City’s economy, as well as the workers and families they support.”
Hotels have lost thousands of jobs and more than 20,000 hotel rooms post-Covid. Revenue, when adjusted for inflation, is far below its pre-pandemic peak. Tourism to New York City has fallen sharply, with more than 2 million fewer visitors than predicted last year and projections for 2026 showing more than half a million fewer visitors than its peak in 2019.
Despite these challenges, hotels managed to strike a deal with the union to remain among the city’s highest-paying employers.
“We are proud the New York hotel industry will continue to provide the best pay and benefits in the country-especially since we are facing tremendous economic headwinds and the highest taxes in the nation, have lost 20,000 hotel rooms since COVID, and are still below prepandemic demand,” said Vijay Dandapani, President and CEO of HANYC.
“I’m thrilled that the hotel industry and union have reached a contract agreement ahead of the World Cup that is fair for both sides. When hotels are strong, the entire hospitality ecosystem is strong. That means more foot traffic from hotel visitors in our neighborhoods, more customers in our restaurants, and more opportunity for workers supporting their families through small business ownership and hospitality jobs. At a time when restaurant owners are facing significant economic pressures, this new contract agreement will give them a chance to benefit from the economic activity that the hotel industry helps generate,” said Arelia Taveras, Founder and Executive Director, Long Island Latino Restaurant Association, including the Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and Bronx Latino Restaurants. “A strike would have been terrible for us and our local economy. Thank you to the Hotel Association of New York City for managing to avoid disaster and get a fair contract for both sides despite tremendous economic headwinds.”
“The small businesses represented by the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce, and the many workers from immigrant communities who have built family-supporting careers in tourism and hospitality, will benefit tremendously from this agreement provided by the hotel industry. This contract agreement helps provide the stability needed for the nearly 400,000 New Yorkers who rely on the hospitality industry for work, as well as the thousands of small business owners across the city whose restaurants and shops have the most to gain from a successful World Cup,” said Dr. Jean G. Joseph, President of the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce.
Hotel bookings for the World Cup period are already well below what they were for the same period last year, currently at 18% booked compared to 26% in 2025. The Iran war has further reduced business by 10–15%, especially among international visitors who spend four-times more than domestic travelers. Raising the prospect of a strike at this moment would have further reduced travel demand, tourism revenue, and critical business for the local small businesses and workers who stand to benefit most from the World Cup.
A recent white paper by JLP+D warned that the city’s vital hotel industry is in trouble, threatening the city’s critical tourism economy. Slow revenue growth, rising costs, tariffs, and federal policies curbing tourism are threatening the livelihoods of more than 40,000 hotel workers, the majority of whom are immigrants and unionized, $79 billion in total economic impact and $6.8 billion in tax revenue for the city, and the hundreds of thousands of hospitality and tourism workers hotels support.
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THE MEMBERS OF THE MULTICULTURAL BUSINESS COUNCIL PRAISING THE HANYC DEAL INCLUDE:
African American New York-New Jersey Chamber of Commerce
African Chamber of Commerce
Afro-Latino Chamber of Commerce
Albany Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Asian American Business Association
Asian American Women’s Chamber of Commerce (AAWCC)
Bodega and Small Business Association
Brazilian Chamber of Commerce
Brooklyn Latino Restaurant Association
Bronx Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Bronx Latino Restaurant Association
Buffalo Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Christian Chamber of Commerce
Disabled Chamber of Commerce
Dominican American Chamber of Commerce
Greater New York Chamber of Commerce
Greater New York Nepali Chamber of Commerce
Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce
Hasidic Jewish Chamber of Commerce
Hispanic Buying Group
Hispanics in Construction
Indian American Chamber of Commerce
Indian American International Chamber of Commerce
Jewish International Chamber of Commerce
Korean American Chamber of Commerce
Korean Grocers Association
Latinos in Tax & Accounting Association
Long Island Latino Restaurant Association
Manhattan Latino Restaurant Association
Mexican American Chamber of Commerce of Yonkers
Mexican American Yonkers Association (MAYA)
Morris County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Multiculture Entertainment, Sports & Media Chamber of Commerce
National Alliance for Black Businesses
National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC)
National Black Chamber
National Business League
National Minority Development Council
National Supermarket Association (NSA)
New American Chamber of Commerce
New Jersey State Veterans Chamber of Commerce
New York-New Jersey National Minority Development Council
NYS Chinese American & Latin American & Caribbean Chamber of Commerce
NYS Coalition of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce
NYS Ecuadorian Chamber of Commerce
NYS Immigrant Chamber of Commerce
NYS LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce
NYS Mexican Chamber of Commerce
Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce (OJC)
Pakistan Chamber of Commerce USA
Peruvian Chamber of Commerce of Long Island
Queens Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Queens Latino Restaurant Association
Rochester Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Shanghai Association in USA
The Black Institute
The Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce
The National Association of State Latino Chambers of Commerce
United Bodegas of America (UBA)
US Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce
Westchester Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Worldwide Association of Small Churches
Yemeni America Merchant Association (YAMA)
Yemeni Business Association