DC Gets a New Union Hotel

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)The Marriott Marquis is not only Washington’s newest downtown hotel but the latest union one as well. The Marquis – which opened yesterday -- recognized both Unite Here 25 and IUOE 99 as the representatives for hotel workers and operating engineers on April 18. With 1,175 rooms, the Marquis, at Ninth Street and Massachusetts Avenue NW, is now D.C.'s largest hotel in terms of guest rooms, and has hired about 500 permanent employees thus far, with 63 percent coming from the District, according to Marriott. In a related story, the engineering unit at the Ritz-Carlton in Georgetown also recently voted to join Local 99.