By Adam Pagnucco.
UNITE HERE Local 25, which represents hotel, restaurant and casino employees in the Washington region, has called for a boycott of the Montgomery County Conference Center. The conference center, which is owned by the county government and operated by Marriott (which has an adjacent hotel), is one of the county’s premier facilities for hosting events. Among its many events is the annual Committee for Montgomery legislative breakfast, which regularly makes headlines with its speaker list.
The union is protesting the conference center’s lack of collective bargaining for its employees. The emails from HERE Local 25 Strategic Campaigns Director Adam Yalowitz to county elected officials and the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC) are reprinted below. I will be reaching out to them for comment.
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From: Adam Yalowitz
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2025
To: County Executive and County Council
Subject: Local 25 boycott of the Montgomery County Conference Center
Dear County Executive and County Council:
I write to inform you that our union, UNITE HERE Local 25, is initiating a boycott of the Montgomery County Conference Center. As you are likely aware, there is no union contract for the servers and other food and beverage staff at this facility. We will reach out to organizations, such as the Committee for Montgomery and the Montgomery County Democratic Party, which have in the past held large events at this facility. We will also reach out to event planners.
We will suggest that organizations and individuals patronize nearby union facilities, including the D.C. Convention Center and multiple hotel facilities in Prince George’s County, Baltimore, and the District of Columbia.
We are disappointed that this facility, owned by Montgomery County, does not have a union contract for its workers and therefore a guarantee for those workers of respect on the job, fair wages and affordable health benefits.
We hope and expect that all of you will honor this boycott. We will picket going forward at this location, to inform the public that workers at the hotel are not protected by a union contract, and we have faith that you will not cross our picket lines.
Please feel free to call with any questions or concerns.
Adam Yalowitz
UNITE HERE
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Dear Members of the MCDCC:
We wanted to flag this boycott announcement asap for your attention. Our union does not take the decision to call for boycotts lightly. While we strongly believe all workers deserve a union contract and respect on the job, fair wages and affordable health benefits, we always prefer a nondisruptive path. The boycott will be lifted when Marriott agrees to a fair process for workers at the conference center to decide on unionization free from threats and intimidation. Indeed, Marriott has agreed to a fair process for workers to organize previously in our area – at the Gaylord Hotel and Conference Center in National Harbor, and at the Westin Georgetown and Marriott Marquis D.C. Convention Center. Workers in Montgomery County deserve no less.
We will be updating our FairHotel.org website to reflect the boycott call of the Montgomery County Conference Center and asking the national AFL-CIO to do the same.
Our union understands that MCDCC has an annual event at this conference center. While boycotts can feel inconvenient to customers, we believe the union-busting workers are increasingly experiencing under the Trump regime is far worse, and expect employers like Marriott to commit that they will not engage in such tactics. The vast majority of Local 25’s members, including many who live in Montgomery County, and non-union workers in the DMV hospitality industry overall, are immigrants and people of color. We are reaching out because the sooner MCDCC takes action to honor the boycott, the better for MCDCC’s event.
Workers and unions are key pillars of our democratic institutions. That is why we are proud that Democrats do not cross workers’ picket lines.
We are happy to make ourselves available to answer any questions at your earliest convenience.
In Solidarity,
Paul Schwalb
Executive Secretary-Treasurer
UNITE HERE Local 25
Adam Yalowitz
Strategic Campaigns Director
UNITE HERE Local 25
Former MCDCC Student Member 2006