2018 Conference
NEMA Statement Regarding the Labor Situation at the Hilton Stamford Hotel & Executive Meeting Center
NEMA contracted with the Hilton Stamford Hotel & Executive Meeting Center in August, 2016, for our annual conference November 7 – 9, 2018. This past December, the hotel’s workers voted to join Unite Here Local 217, a union representing about 3,000 hotel and food service workers in Connecticut. The union is now in negotiations with hotel management for a labor contract. In May, 2017 the workers voted to boycott the hotel and have since then staged periodic demonstrations in support of their bargaining position.
NEMA has been in contact with hotel management and the worker’s union. Over the course of this past summer, the two sides were meeting and making progress toward agreement. We were hopeful that a contract would be completed by the time of our conference, but it now appears that talks have stalled and the issues will be left unresolved. The union organizer has told us there will likely be some level of demonstration next week.
When we first became aware of the negotiation, we considered moving our event to another venue, but decided that this was not viable considering the size of the NEMA conference and the relatively short time frame before the conference. The 2018 conference will go forward as planned, but we will refrain from holding any future events with the Hilton Stamford Hotel & Executive Meeting Center until the labor situation is resolved to the mutual agreement of management and labor.
Click HERE for the union’s Facebook page or contact union organizer Andrew Tillet-Saks at atillett-saks@unitehere.org. To reach hotel management email General Manager Ted McCallum at ted.mccallum@hilton.com.