We Are UNITE HERE Local 24
We believe the days of workers feeling frustrated, overworked and underpaid need to end.
Working people shouldn’t have to live paycheck to paycheck. Or in constant fear of losing their jobs. Or worrying about being harassed or intimidated in the workplace. We represent hospitality workers in our cities: bartenders, housekeepers, servers, casino, stadium, and airline catering workers, who make the billion-dollar hospitality industry thrive.
We’ve fought for – and won – wage increases, affordable healthcare, job safety, set schedules, maternity leave and more for workers across Michigan and Ohio. If you work in the hospitality industry in Detroit, we’re already fighting for you.
If you’re struggling, constantly feeling frustrated that you’re overworked and underpaid you need to stand up and fight back. But you can’t go it alone. We are UNITE HERE Local 24. And if you’re a worker in the hospitality industry in the Metro Detroit, Cincinnati or Cleveland areas, we are already fighting for you.
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“The best part of having a union job…you don’t have to worry about feeling discriminated against. You feel equal. Everybody is together. Equality is seen between positions. Sometimes with non-union jobs and being back of the house they forget about you. Being with a union though, everyone is treated the same. The pay is also a major thing. We’re living in hard times right now where you need to be making an affordable wage. The vacation time and personal time is important too. Because you work so hard, you want to be able to take the time off that you need to spend with your family. They also can’t fire you right off the bat if they don’t like you.”
“I had an experience where the union had to fight for me. And it didn’t matter to them that I was a person of the LGBTQ+ community. I was a person that needed help and they came to the rescue.”
“I know the importance of being in a union. Protection. And not only protection, but all the benefits you receive in the union. I want to use the word protection because sometimes if the managers don’t like you, they can let you go. But as long as you have union protections they have to have cause and go through the process before letting someone go. I think the union for me has protected me all these years. They kept me working—the longevity‚ been here 15 years or 20 years because of the union.”
“Unions help a lot because it’s someone there to support you during hard times with the company and that’s why it’s important to have someone to help you and be that backbone. The Union does the job that we need. If you think you have a right, go out there and fight until you get it.”
“The union has given me a job that I’d call a sustainable job. I have great health insurance. I have a fair wage. I get respect from my supervisors because they know I’m well educated as to what our contract says. So I’ve been able to go to work without some of the trip falls of non-union jobs. The wages and healthcare give me the confidence to live my life and do things I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to do.”
“I can really be myself at work now thanks to the union. When I became a union rep, it made me a lot more open. I was able to bond with a lot more people. I wasn’t out yet when I became a rep, but I wanted to be open. I would advise anyone who’s struggling or going through something—talk to a union rep. I’m here to help or I can lead them to someone else who can help. I went through a lot with coming out. And the union helped me. I want them to know it’s okay. Be you. It’s the best way. All you can do is be you.”
“La union trabajó para nosotros y nos defendió para nosotros ganar el pago correcto. Nos dió una ayuda que ahora tenemos.”
“Thankfully in Union shops, you know definitely, day-in and day-out, you know you have this set schedule. And it makes like a whole lot easier when you can schedule your outside life with the job. When I’m going to work, and I know I’m going to be there from 9 to 5, that’s helpful. Whereas with non-Union shops you know, they could say 11-7 and then Thursday it’s 12-8. It’s chaotic. When you have a schedule that’s all over the place that makes it very hard.”
“Everyone can be afraid to challenge the management team because you’re scared of some kind of backlash. So people let things slide. But after 6 months or so, enough was enough. I jumped in to try and change things. And one of the biggest things that bothered me was the favortism. If they like you, you’re good. If they don’t like you, you’re not. And everyone should be treated the same because we’re all there to do the same job. With the union there’s job protection. And that’s why I love the union.”
“I was raised to believe that unions were a good thing. I really didn’t understand all the ins and outs, but after a year working at MGM I had to have knee surgery and I came back from having my surgery and they decided they were going to fire me. But the union saved my job! So that’s when I decided to get actively involved in the union so that it wouldn’t happen to anyone else.”