About UNITE HERE Local 1

UNITE HERE Local 1 represents more than 15,000 hospitality workers in Chicago and Northwest Indiana. Our members work in hotels, O’Hare and Midway airports, restaurants, school cafeterias, stadiums, convention centers like McCormick Place and Navy Pier, and casinos. We are a union of housekeepers, lunchroom attendants, cooks, bartenders, bellmen, servers, and dishwashers. We are predominantly women, immigrants, and people of color.

Local 1 is an affiliate of UNITE HERE, which represents approximately 300,000 hotel, food service, and gaming workers throughout the United States and Canada. UNITE HERE is among the fastest growing unions in the nation.

Raising the Standard in Chicago

Chicago’s hospitality workers are at the core of the city’s economy. Chicago hosted 57.6 million visitors in 2018, according to Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism organization.

The members of UNITE HERE Local 1 have transformed low-wage, service-sector jobs into safe, family-sustaining jobs. Our union has dramatically raised the standard for hotel work in Chicago, with housekeeper wages rising from $8.83 an hour in 2002 to more than $20 an hour today.


Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @UNITEHERELocal1.