Current Hotel Union Fight Focuses on Pay, Next Round May Shift to Technology

At the 2024 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2024) in Las Vegas, a question about "how do you like your eggs" was not asked by food service staff, but by a robot. When attendees responded, the robot cracked and cooked eggs to their taste. Elsewhere at the show, robots provided massage services, and another made latte coffee. These robot demonstrations attracted the attention of the show's 135,000 attendees, and related videos spread widely online, making it into post-show "coolest tech" roundups.

However, there was a group of CES attendees who were not there to observe. A delegation from Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165—these two Nevada locals are affiliated with the national hospitality union Unite Here, and are jointly known as the Culinary Union—came to see which robots are performing the service jobs of their members.

"Everything I saw at CES, I asked myself: 'How will this impact workers and their jobs?' No one in the convention center was talking about that," said Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO. The AFL-CIO is the largest federation of unions in the U.S., and Unite Here is a member organization. Shuler made these remarks during her opening speech at the Labor Innovation and Technology Summit (LIT Summit), held in Las Vegas in January alongside CES.

Members of the Culinary Union, representing about 60,000 workers in Nevada, also attended the LIT Summit where Shuler spoke. A few months earlier, in November 2023, the union made headlines after winning historic wage increases following strike threats at several major resorts on the Las Vegas Strip. The contract terms included technology protection language aimed at mitigating the impact of technology on members' jobs.

Outside Las Vegas, this year's ongoing hotel strikes have centered mainly on wages—workers argue that current pay is insufficient to cope with rising living costs—and on reversing pandemic-era staffing cuts. But hospitality and labor experts believe technology will become a key issue in future union contract negotiations, rather than a side clause.

Meanwhile, the hospitality industry continues to adopt technologies aimed at streamlining operations, and the rapid iteration of available technology means it is difficult to accurately predict which technologies will become the focus of future labor-management disputes in the industry.

On October 25, 2023, former Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Geoconda Arguello-Kline (left) and former Unite Here President D. Taylor (center) were arrested by Las Vegas police during an act of civil disobedience. Following protests and strike threats, thousands of union workers in Las Vegas won contracts with higher wages.

Photo credit: John Locher/AP

Technology's threat to union jobs

Concerns about technology replacing workers are not new. In the hospitality industry, this issue dates back to the invention of the automatic dishwasher in the mid-20th century, which streamlined kitchen operations and replaced manual dishwashers nationwide, Bill Werner, associate professor at UNLV's Harrah College of Hospitality, told Hotel Dive.

However, in recent years, the pace of development and adoption of hospitality-related technology has accelerated significantly. According to an October 2023 study by JLL, hoteliers ranked technology upgrades among their top priorities for 2024. Specifically regarding robotics in the hospitality industry, the global market size is expected to reach $2.2 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 21.5% from 2023 to 2030, according to Research and Markets.

When D. Taylor, then-president of Unite Here, spoke at the LIT Summit in January, he said he had attended CES for several years, "but it was in 2017 that I realized: 'Oh my God, if we don't address (the growing impact of technology), we're in big trouble.'"

The following year, the Culinary Union included technology adoption provisions in its contracts. In the contracts negotiated in 2023, the union "protected and expanded" that language, union spokesperson Bethany Khan told Hotel Dive.

For Culinary Union members, technology-related concerns extend beyond robot replacement to everything from workflow optimization applications to artificial intelligence. Although the union contract language provides protections regarding how technology isusedin hotels, it does not prevent companies from deploying new technology in the first place.

"There's nothing in the contract that restricts management from using automation," Werner said. "It's entirely up to the hotel. The contract only deals with the impact (of technology) on employees."

The current Culinary Union contract language requires hotels to notify workers up to six months in advance before implementing any technology that could affect union member jobs, including artificial intelligence. The contract also requires employers to train employees on new technology at no cost, and if union workers are laid off due to technology, they must receive a severance package including six months of health and pension benefits.

The 2023 contract also introduced workers' right to bargain over any technology that tracks employee location or shares their data, and stipulates that if technology prevents tipped employees from performing their duties, they are entitled to compensation.

"The Culinary Union has always been at the forefront of fighting for dignity at work," Khan told Hotel Dive.

Unite Here also added technology-related language in 2018, although according to a spokesperson, the latest round of negotiations did not expand or strengthen that language. Werner believes this is because workers are focused on winning higher wages and reversing pandemic-era staffing cuts.

"This could become a bigger battle down the road," Werner said, noting that the newly signed Culinary Union contract is for five years. "What will technology look like in five years? None of us know. I think when these contracts come up again... this will become a more critical issue because (hotels) will have more options for automation, and the costs will be different."

Automation is not yet replacing human labor—for now

Despite the attention-grabbing robot demonstrations, they have not yet truly replaced hospitality workers. Werner cited the example of the Tipsy Robot bar at The Venetian in Las Vegas. This robot bar went viral in early 2023 when a TikTok user filmed the ordering screen, which requested a 10% service fee. "Normally I don't mind an automatic 10% tip to make my drink, but you're a robot," user @uptin said.

"That became a funny story here," Werner said, "but people I've talked to don't like (robot bartenders)... They pour weak drinks because they measure exactly one ounce. Every bartender in Las Vegas pours a little extra."

According to Werner, robot bartenders—like other robots in the hospitality industry and those showcased at CES—have not yet moved beyond the novelty stage.

"There hasn't really been a massive shift toward automation yet," he said, for several reasons. One, "the return on investment isn't clear," because the industry is unsure how customers will react. Additionally, the cost of such robots is currently too high for many hotels. For example, Richtech's robot "Adam," which served drinks at this year's CES, costs $180,000, according to Inc. However, there are robot use cases that are more suitable for hotel settings. For instance, back-of-house food preparation tasks like chopping vegetables are easier to automate.

"(Costs) will come down," Werner said, "technology will eventually catch up in price."

On July 6, 2017, customers order from robot bartenders at the Tipsy Robot automated bar in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, Nevada. Reactions to robot bartenders (which have appeared at several resorts in the city) have been mixed.

Photo credit: Ringo Chiu/Zuma Press/Newscom

Optimizing the employee experience

For hotel employees, more pressing technology-related concerns than robot replacement remain. For example, Elena Newman worries about a familiar technology: smartphone apps.

As a room attendant at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas, Newman recounted at the LIT Summit what happened after her manager asked her to use an app that schedules cleaning rotations. Previously, room attendants at Mandalay Bay received a paper list of rooms to clean—meaning workers could choose their own cleaning order—but the app would dictate when and where Newman should clean.

"If the smartphone decides which rooms to clean first, it sends us to different floors, different areas (of the hotel)," she said during a panel discussion. "Imagine pushing a heavy cart full of items, running back and forth."

Newman described how she and her colleagues jointly resisted using the app, and eventually the resort backed down. "Smartphones don't clean rooms. We clean rooms," she said.

Meanwhile, many hospitality professionals say technology is improving staffing and workflow efficiency—and, if deployed properly, can actually improve the employee experience. According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association's (AHLA) 2024 State of the Industry report, hotels are seeking to use AI to streamline workflows, maximize labor efficiency, and "revolutionize" operational efficiency "in line with the industry's growing demand for employees to take on multiple roles and responsibilities."

When companies use technology to take over rule-based, repetitive tasks, "employees are freed up to spend more time meeting guests' emotional needs," said Bob Vergidis, founder and chief vision officer of POS technology provider Point of Sale Cloud.

"If a guest is staying at your hotel for the first time, the primary goal should be to turn that guest into a loyal fan—someone who will not only return but also influence others to come. That's what humans excel at," he said. "We don't need more people pushing buttons. We need more people fostering human connections."

Vergidis also believes that technology that reduces employees' cognitive load can serve as a retention tool, especially for members of Gen Z who demand a better work-life balance than previous generations. According to an August report by Axonify, 64% of frontline managers in the hospitality industry said workers are leaving due to burnout.

Retention is one of the top concerns for hotel managers, and according to AHLA, many hotels are still struggling to fill open positions. According to Alexander Mirza, co-founder and CEO of Mogul Hospitality, technology that successfully improves employees' work experience could actually help alleviate the ongoing labor shortage.

"We need truly bold and significant innovation in human capital, and we need leadership to address (the labor shortage)," he said. "For example, how can the industry work together to recruit and develop talent, provide career paths for people, and potentially use AI to do that?"

Meanwhile, innovation continues to accelerate, and hoteliers are applying technology to everything from concierge services to massage therapy. Although new technology will be adopted whether or not unions approve, workers are likely to push back against technology that fails to improve the employee experience.

"We will continue to enforce this technology language," Khan told Hotel Dive. "Everyone deserves dignity at work, the opportunity to support their family, and job security—and we will continue to lead the fight for these rights."

Visual editor Shaun Lucas contributed to this article.