Councilmembers to Introduce Bill to Require Labor Peace Agreements on Hotel Development Projects with County Economic Participation

MARYLAND, December 6 - For Immediate Release: Thursday, June 12, 2025

From the Offices of Councilmember Natali Fani-González, Council President Kate Stewart, and Councilmember Sidney Katz

Today, Montgomery County Councilmember Natali Fani-González, Council President Kate Stewart, and Councilmember Sidney Katz announced a bill to require labor peace agreements on hotel development projects where the County is an economic participant, bringing the County in line with neighboring jurisdictions and industry norms in the hospitality and tourism sector. 

“Giving workers the tools needed to organize without fear of getting fired is part of embracing our values and goal of having a strong workforce. At the same time, it is clearly to the County’s advantage to avoid labor disputes and the resulting loss of revenue on our public-private partnerships, like the Montgomery County Conference Center,” said Councilmember Fani-González, chair of the Economic Development Committee. “While it was a mistake to not include a labor peace agreement (LPA) in the 10-year contract the County Executive recently signed with Marriott, it is my hope that the agreement can be amended to correct this error. This legislation will prevent a repeat of this mistake in the future. The UNITE HERE Local 25’s boycott of the Montgomery County Conference Center could have been avoided if this policy already existed. Now we are faced with a boycott that could cost the County revenue and shows that the County is at a competitive disadvantage in attracting large events and conferences that want the protection of no-strike and no-picketing guarantees.”

“This legislation benefits everyone in the County, including our workers and industry partners, and protects our local economy from disruption,” said Council President Stewart. "Labor peace agreements are not new. We have them in place for trash collection contracts in the County and they are the norm in the region and across the country especially in the hospitality and tourism industry. This legislation will ensure that the County is staying true to its values in public-private partnerships moving forward. The Trump administration is ignoring federal labor laws and eviscerating workers’ rights which makes it even more imperative to ensure workers’ rights and establish fair contracts for corporate partners at a local level.”

“This bill highlights the importance of labor peace agreements in ensuring collaboration and understanding between employers and employees in county-invested projects,” Councilmember Katz said. “By fostering good faith negotiations, these agreements not only address immediate needs but also contribute to the long-term success of the venue.  Implementing such policies can have a positive economic impact, promoting stability and growth in the County.”

A letter last week signed by 25 Maryland state senators and delegates – over 70 percent of the Montgomery County Delegation – stating that they will honor the boycott of the Conference Center illustrates the risk to the County of labor disputes at County-backed hotel projects. 

The letter reads: “Out of respect for the workers and in solidarity with their right to unionize, we are publicly committing to honor the boycott and will refrain from attending events at the Montgomery County Conference Center until the boycott is lifted and a fair process is agreed upon. We will also be notifying organizers of events scheduled at the Conference Center of our collective commitment to respect the boycott, and will strongly encourage them to reconsider their event locations until Marriott reaches a fair agreement and the boycott is resolved.”

The bill introduced on Tuesday would also enable the County’s chief administrative officer to engage Marriott in a discussion regarding what changes could be made to the Conference Center contract to bring Marriott into voluntary compliance with the new policy. 

President Trump’s attacks on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) have made disruptive labor disputes more likely. For example, workers in D.C. voted to unionize at the Hyatt Place Washington DC/White House, but the employer appealed the results to a board that has no quorum and cannot resolve labor disputes. Without due process at the NLRB, workers have picketed the hotel for months. Workers are also picketing six prominent restaurants in D.C. because of protracted labor disputes and announced a boycott of those restaurants that has been endorsed by more than 60 members of Congress, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Rep. Jamie Raskin. The boycott of the Montgomery County-owned conference center also shows the risk of labor disputes to the County.

More information on the bill that will be introduced on Tuesday, June 17:

The County participates in, and may in the future participate in, hotel development projects, as a property owner, lessor, proprietor, lender, or guarantor, facing similar risks and liabilities as those faced by other business entities that participate in these ventures.

In these situations, the County has an ongoing proprietary interest in the development projects and a direct interest in their financial performance; and must make prudent management decisions, similar to any private business entity, to ensure efficient management of its business concerns and to maximize benefits and minimize risks.

One risk to the County’s proprietary interests is the possibility of labor-management conflict, which can result in delays, work stoppages, picketing, strikes, consumer boycotts, increased costs, reduced revenues, and other forms of adverse economic pressure. The risks of labor-management conflict are heightened in the hotel industry because of a documented history of labor-management conflict in this industry and because tourism and conventions are critical to the County’s economy.

One way of reducing risks to the County’s proprietary interests is to require, as a condition of the County’s investment or other economic participation in a hotel development project, that employers participating in the project seek agreements with labor organizations in which the labor organizations agree to forbear from adverse economic action against the employer’s operations.

View the bill and the staff report on the Council's webpage.

Background on Labor Peace Agreements:

Labor Peace Agreements are common in the hospitality and tourism sector, which can be particularly susceptible to disruptive labor disputes.

There are a number of jurisdictions that have ordinances that require labor peace at all hotel development projects where the jurisdiction has a proprietary interest. That includes Washington, D.C., Baltimore, the State of New York, the State of Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Miami, and Minneapolis. Many other jurisdictions, including Boston, Denver, Duluth, Houston, Tucson, Los Angeles, Mountain View, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Clara, Santa Monica, Seattle, St. Louis, and Tucson have required labor peace on development projects to protect a public agency’s ongoing financial interest in a hotel project which could be put at risk by labor disputes. Labor peace requirements were also part of the most recent large terminal concessions RFPs at BWI, Dulles and National Airports; required by the State of Maryland and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) respectively. 

Labor peace agreements are also commonly used at D.C. metro-area hotels, including at the Gaylord National Harbor, MGM Casino, Marriott Marquis Convention Center, William F. Bolger Conference Center and Hotel, Conrad City Center, Embassy Suites Convention Center, Hilton McLean, and DoubleTree Crystal City.

# # #

Release ID: 25-203
Media Contact: Tommy Heyboer 240-777-7867, Cecily Thorne 301-910-0610