In Buffalo, NY, Aimbridge is at war with their employees
In the fall of 2024, employees at an Aimbridge property in Buffalo, the Hyatt Regency, launched a campaign to organize a union. Workers spoke about mismanagement, mistreatment of immigrant workers, and the desire to have a voice on the job. Knowing that union organizing is a federally protected right, workers announced their campaign to management. They even sent a letter to Aimbridge CEO Craig Smith, declaring their respect for the company and their intent to work together to create a better workplace environment.
In response, Aimbridge launched a scorched-earth campaign to destroy the workers’ union. The Buffalo region of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) would later find that Aimbridge made unlawful threats to workers, surveilled pro-union workers illegally over security systems and social media, and ultimately fired pro-union workers.
The Buffalo region of the NLRB found that this illegal conduct was so egregious that they ordered Aimbridge to recognize their workers’ union without a vote. They argued that Aimbridge had gone so far as to destroy the conditions for a fair and democratic process, which the law requires. This “bargaining order” is an extremely rare remedy, reserved by the NLRB for only the most egregious cases of misconduct.
In the courts, Aimbridge is at war with the law
Once the NLRB finds merit in a charge, the employer settles 90% of the time. Aimbridge has refused.
In fact, Aimbridge has taken it a step further. They went to court and argued that the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 - the federal law which gives every worker in this country the right to organize - is unconstitutional, and that they should not have to face the NLRB in trial.
This is a tactic to delay the process by which their employees are supposed to be able to hold them accountable, threatening the 90-year old basis for workers’ rights to organize in this country. Aimbridge employees continue to wait for justice.
Aimbridge employees speak out
John Ingram had been an Aimbridge employee at the Buffalo Hyatt Regency for 5 years when he was terminated. John has been in the industry for over 20 years and is a leader of his community in Buffalo. A former NAACP president, John was outraged to see so many workers targeted, fired, and forced out for speaking out about Aimbridge mismanagement of the hotel.
John had not initially been involved in the union campaign at the Buffalo Hyatt Regency due to believing he was in management and thus not able to participate. However, he saw that Aimbridge employees had no choice but to unionize in order to have dignity and a voice on the job, and so they could fix the many problems of their hotel and of Aimbridge.
John has now lent his voice to this campaign to hold Aimbridge accountable to its mistreatment of workers in Buffalo. No industry-leading hotel operator can operate like Aimbridge did at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo - trampling on the rights of their employees and retaliating against any who decide to speak out.
We launched the Aimbridge Solidarity Network to support the Buffalo Hyatt workers.
At Aimbridge, one of our core values is to “Think We. Not Me.” We need to stand up for fair treatment across the company - from Buffalo, NY to Plano, TX. Want to talk? Have information about Remington, the company Aimbridge tapped to manage the Hyatt? Reach out confidentially!