Christina Lee, Head Photography Editor

Workers at the Omni New Haven Hotel ratified a new contract on Saturday after a months-long labor dispute which culminated in a four-day strike in mid-September.

UNITE HERE Local 217, which represents the hotel’s housekeepers, front desk agents, cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders and bellmen, began contract negotiations with hotel management in November 2023. Ian Dunn, a UNITE HERE organizer, told the News that negotiations continued through the end of last week, until the parties reached a tentative agreement on Friday, which the union members voted to ratify on Saturday.

In a press release, Dunn highlighted the new contract’s “maintained” healthcare benefits and high first-year wage increases of “up to 14.5 percent.”

“It’s a huge victory and a huge adjustment for workers who have been dealing with the effects of working-class inflation,” Dunn said.

Dunn explained that the wage increase announced in the press release signifies that workers will earn around 14.5 percent more in the contract’s first year than they earned last year. 

Omni employees’ last contract, which was extended due to the pandemic, expired in March. The newly ratified contract is for four years.

Though the workers who voted to ratify the contract know the wage increase for all four years, Dunn only published the number for the first year for strategic reasons, because of the union’s ongoing efforts to settle contracts in other hotels around the country, he said.

However, Dunn said that the contract’s wage increase was “substantially better” than the one in the previous contract.

“This new contract will change my life,” Kadiata Lam, an Omni room attendant, is quoted as saying in Local 217’s press release. “This contract will let my daughter live a better life. It is a huge step forward for all of us, and I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved together.”

Omni management did not immediately respond to the News’ requests for comment on the new contract. The hotel declined to comment on the ongoing negotiations during the labor dispute.

Local 217’s four-day limited strike featured appearances from multiple local politicians, including Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers, Mayor Justin Elicker, Gov. Ned Lamont, Rep. Rosa DeLauro and both Connecticut senators. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who had planned to speak about her new book at the Omni, moved the event to a different location due to the then-unresolved negotiations.

When the strike ended on Sept. 15, negotiations between the hotel and the union resumed.

Local 217’s statement on the contract’s ratification highlights that around 10,000 hospitality workers nationwide have gone on strike in the past month. 

Workers at the Hyatt Regency in Greenwich announced that they had ratified their contract on Thursday. 

UNITE HERE was formed in 2004 by a merger of two unions.