The Kimpton Nine Zero Hotel, a high-end property in downtown Boston, has terminated the majority of its staff, the fourth hotel in the city to terminate furloughed workers as the industry struggles to recover from devastating financial losses brought on by the pandemic.
The mass termination at the union hotel comes a year after workers were initially furloughed and within days of a contract provision running out that guaranteed the right for workers to return with full seniority for up to a year after being laid off for economic reasons.
Fifty-two union workers, out of 77 at the hotel, received termination notices in the mail on Monday after first learning about it from their union, Unite Here Local 26. The union said the “extremely aggressive” action violates the contract, which it said only allows workers to be fired for just cause, such as stealing. In order to eliminate positions, the hotel is required to bargain with the union, according to Local 26.
“This is an act of war,” said Carlos Aramayo, president of Local 26. “This is an attempt to use the pandemic and the job insecurity created by the pandemic to undermine the high wages and benefits standards that workers in this industry have fought for decades to achieve.”
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants said in a statement: “We are working diligently with the union in search of the best solution for our employees and business, which has been significantly impacted by this pandemic. The actions taken by the hotel comply with the union contract that has been in place for years. We are hopeful that conversations with our union partners remain constructive during these very difficult and unprecedented times.”
Kimpton operates more than 70 hotels around the world, including two others in the Boston area: the Marlowe in Cambridge and the Onyx near Faneuil Hall, which are not union hotels. A company spokeswoman did not respond to questions about workforce changes at its other properties.
Brookfield Properties, which owns the hotel, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Stephen Stern, a waiter in the hotel’s restaurant for almost 20 years, was shocked when the union informed him he was being let go exactly a year after he was furloughed. It was an “incredible” job, he said, with great health insurance and four weeks of vacation, plus 12 holidays and a week of personal time. In 2019, he made $74,000.
“I planned on retiring from that job,” he said. “I’m 53 years old. Where am I going to find work? Nobody in this field is hiring. It’s what I’ve done my whole life. For a company to do this, I’m just disgusted. I’m going to do everything in my power to fight this.”
“It’s just greed, greed, greed,” he said.
The Nine Zero is the first union hotel to fire furloughed workers during the pandemic, following terminations at the non-union Revere Hotel Boston Common, Boston Marriott Copley Place, and the Four Seasons on Boylston Street. After intense public pushback, the Four Seasons promised staffers who were let go they’d be first in line for their jobs once business returns, but the other two properties made no such promises.
With the hotel market decimated by the pandemic, the union fears the cuts will keep coming as the industry looks to reduce costs on the backs of its employees. Companies could bring in less expensive contractors, replace workers with technology, or give guests the option to have their rooms cleaned less often, the union said, leading to fewer jobs and less stable, lower-paying work.
To try to stem the tide, the union launched a campaign last week to pressure hotels to hire back workers once business returns, calling out 30 hotels — including the Nine Zero — that have not publicly committed to doing so. Almost all the union hotels have agreed to recall their workers, but 28 major non-union hotels have not.
Local 26 estimates that 8,000 union and non-union hotel workers are still unemployed in the Boston area, about 85 percent of the workforce. Boston’s hotel occupancy is one of the lowest among the country’s major markets — less than 34 percent in early March, down from nearly 67 percent two years ago, according to hospitality-data provider STR.
The Kimpton Nine Zero, in Boston’s Ladder District, underwent a $12 million renovation in 2018 to update its 190 guest rooms and event space after being purchased by Brookfield Properties, according to industry publications. The 1,065-square-foot penthouse on the 19th floor features a billiards table, love letters between John and Abigail Adams enscribed above the headboard, and a telescope to take in the view of the Public Garden and the Charles River through floor-to-ceiling windows.
Room attendant Klarita Xherimeja came to Boston from Albania eight years ago and started working at the Nine Zero soon after. “It was my first job and it was my second home,” she said.
Xherimeja, 39, and her husband, who is also out of work, bought a house in Dedham shortly before the pandemic hit. They and their two children, age 16 and 12, all contracted COVID earlier this year.
“This is not human,” she said, her voice raspy from crying, noting that her 16-year-old daughter offered to get a job to help the family get by.
“When you hear your kid saying that,” she said, “it’s heartbreaking.”
Katie Johnston can be reached at katie.johnston@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @ktkjohnston.
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