Election Scheduled for Trade Hotel Union

The Trade Hotel. Photo take May 13, 2023 by Jeramey Jannene.

In less than a month, workers at The Trade Hotel in Deer District will vote on whether or not to form a union.

A union election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has been scheduled for June 27, and is awaiting approval from a local NLRB official, according to the Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Organization (MASH), which is organizing the workers.

The unionization campaign went public in May after workers delivered signed union authorization cards to the hotel owner and operator, North Central Group, and demanded recognition.

The proposed bargaining unit for the union includes approximately 80 workers working in service and hospitality roles at the hotel, according to MASH.

The Trade Hotel, 420 W. Juneau Ave. is a four-star, 207-room hotel developed on land leased from the Milwaukee Bucks organization in Deer District. The site was formerly part of the Park East freeway corridor. MASH represents more than 1,000 workers at the Fiserv Forum and Pabst Theater Group venues.

MASH alleges NCG Hospitality has mounted a vigorous anti-union campaign at the hotel, “browbeating” workers with “propaganda,” according to Peter Rickman, MASH president.

The union has filed several charges with the NLRB alleging unfair labor practice violations. The election will move forward regardless of the outcome of the NLRB investigation, Rickman said.

“We want to get to an election as soon as possible,” he said, adding that the longer the process goes on the more time NCG has to work against the unionization campaign.

This unionization election will allow all Team Members to have a voice and be heard,” a spokesperson for NCG told Urban Milwaukee. “If the election results in a majority vote for unionization, we will fully respect and honor their decision and right to do so and NCG Hospitality will negotiate in good faith. NCG Hospitality is abiding by all the election rules set forth by the NLRB.”

When the union demanded recognition, it also proposed a code of conduct for the unionization process, which NCG Hospitality has not agreed to, according to MASH. It included provisions setting out “employer neutrality, joint statements between the employer and the union informing workers of information regarding the election process, and employee access to education from union representatives during non-working times,” according to a statement from MASH Friday.

Workers and MASH are seeking union recognition under a new organizing framework created by the NLRB in 2023 which stipulates, among other things, that any unfair labor practices committed during the union election, if proven, will nullify the results and the employer will be required to recognize the union.