Unite Here

What Unite Here does

UNITE HERE is a North American labor union representing approximately 300,000 workers across the United States and Canada, organized under Section 501(c)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code. The union was formed in 2004 through the merger of UNITE (Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees) and HERE (Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union), and operates through more than 100 local affiliates covering hotels, gaming and casinos, food service, airports, airline catering, stadiums, textile/manufacturing/distribution, and transportation. Membership is predominantly women and people of color, drawn from over 200 countries, with leadership vested in elected General Officers (President Gwen Mills, Secretary-Treasurer Nia Winston) and a Canadian Director.

The union's core offerings are programs and campaigns rather than technology products: FairHotel (a consumer-facing directory of union hotels), the Inhospitable research report on immigration-policy impacts, the Airline Catering "It's Our Turn" campaign, and the Health & Safety, Wages & Benefits, and Equity & Civil Rights programs. The largest labor-led independent canvassing operation in the country — over 2,000 canvassers knocking on 4.3 million voter doors in ten states in 2024 — functions as both a political-mobilization channel and a member-recruitment distribution mechanism. Beyond bargaining, UNITE HERE administers not-for-profit health plans covering nearly 1 million Americans via owned health centers in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Chicago, and New York, and operates a retirement fund.

The revenue model is recurring membership dues collected through payroll deduction (locally set), supplemented by health-plan premium and administrative revenue. The go-to-market motion is community-led, workplace-based organizing: organizers engage workers directly at hotels, casinos, airports, stadiums, and restaurants, then run contract campaigns and strike authorizations. Distribution is primarily through local affiliates and a website sign-up funnel, with adjacent channels including shareholder advocacy (e.g., PENN Entertainment), coalition lobbying (prediction-market ban with the American Gaming Association, healthcare-cuts opposition via HEALTH IS PRIMARY), and global union federation partnerships (IUF, ITF, UNI Gaming, IndustriALL). The union is headquartered in New York with additional offices in Toronto, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.

Name

Unite Here

Legal name

UNITE HERE!

Website

https://unitehere.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

UNITE HERE is a North American labor union representing approximately 300,000 hospitality, gaming, food-service, airline-catering, and airport workers across the United States and Canada, organized through more than 100 local affiliates and funded primarily by recurring member dues collected via payroll deduction.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Member Dues: UNITE HERE generates revenue through union membership dues paid by its 300,000 members across the United States and Canada. Members pay dues to belong to the union and receive benefits including collective bargaining representation, health and safety protections, wage negotiations, and political advocacy.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

UNITE HERE is a labor union representing 300,000 hospitality and service workers across the United States and Canada. Its core offering is collective bargaining representation, contract negotiation, and advocacy for workers in hotels, casinos, airports, stadiums, airline catering, restaurants, textile, manufacturing, and transportation. The union also administers not-for-profit health plans covering nearly 1 million Americans and operates the largest labor-led independent canvassing program in the country.

Product overview

UNITE HERE is a labor union representing 300,000 hospitality and service workers across the United States and Canada. The union operates as a member-driven organization rather than a technology product company, offering programs and services focused on worker advocacy, organizing, and member support. Core offerings include the FairHotel consumer program (helping travelers book unionized hotels), the Electoral Politics canvassing program (largest labor-led independent canvassing operation in the country), the Inhospitable research report on immigration policy impacts, and various campaigns including Airline Catering: It's Our Turn, Building Power in the Hotel Industry, and the Immigration Project. Additional programs address Health & Safety, Wages & Benefits, and Equity & Civil Rights for members.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FairHotel: A program hosted by UNITE HERE to help travelers find and book unionized hotels. Consumers who choose FairHotels support sustainable jobs in the hospitality industry.
• Inhospitable
• HEALTH IS PRIMARY

Products and services

• UNITE HERE Union Membership
• FairHotel
• UNITE HERE Health Plan
• UNITE HERE Retirement Fund
• UNITE HERE Electoral Politics Canvassing Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 40% wage increases won in San Diego Marriott strike
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• American Gaming AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2026Coalition partner in urging Congress to add sports event contracts ban to crypto regulation bill. UNITE HERE joined with AGA and Indian Gaming Association to advocate for legislation banning prediction markets from offering sports betting services, arguing such markets threaten casino jobs and tribal sovereignty.
• Indian Gaming AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2026Coalition partner with UNITE HERE and American Gaming Association in lobbying Congress to restrict prediction markets. Joint advocacy arguing prediction markets violate tribal sovereignty and state gaming laws.
• AFL-CIO Hotel and Gaming Trades CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2026Coalition partner with UNITE HERE in lobbying Congress on prediction market restrictions. Combined advocacy representing hotel and gaming workers' interests in federal legislation.
• HEALTH IS PRIMARY CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 May 2026Broad nonpartisan coalition of healthcare workers, public health professionals, labor groups, and civil rights organizations organizing 100+ events in June 2026 to protest $1 trillion in healthcare cuts. Celebrities including Lin-Manuel Miranda and Marc Anthony joined the coalition.
• Actor Noah WyleminorOthers · 8 May 2026Actor Noah Wyle joined the Seven Days in June: HEALTH IS PRIMARY coalition as a celebrity supporter advocating against $1 trillion in healthcare cuts included in H.R. 1 legislation.
• PENN EntertainmentminorOthers · 30 April 2026UNITE HERE is urging PENN Entertainment shareholders to vote FOR board declassification proposal at June 2026 AGM. Union argues annual elections would enhance accountability during gaming industry disruption.
• IUF Hotel, Food ServicecoreOthersInternational Union Federation of Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Workers. UNITE HERE partners with IUF through global campaigns department to develop common strategies with unions globally and tackle shared struggles facing hospitality workers worldwide.
• ITF International Transport Workers UnioncoreOthersInternational Transport Workers Union. UNITE HERE collaborates through partnerships with global unions to develop common strategies and speak to multinational employers with a unified voice across transportation industries.
• UNI Gaming, ServicescoreOthersGlobal union federation for gaming and services sectors. UNITE HERE partners with UNI Gaming to address shared challenges in the gaming industry and advocate for workers across international gaming markets.
• IndustriALL Garment, TextilecoreOthersGlobal union federation representing garment and textile workers. UNITE HERE partners with IndustriALL to advance safe and decent jobs throughout the global economy and support worker rights campaigns worldwide.
• LabourStartminorOthersInternational trade union news website. UNITE HERE participates in LabourStart news network providing daily news updates for trade unionists.
• Union Solidarity International (USI)minorOthersUnion Solidarity International organization. UNITE HERE participates in USI for international exchange programs, delegations, and solidarity rallies with social justice struggles around the world.
• Democratic Party (Political Canvassing)coreOthersUNITE HERE runs the largest labor-led independent canvassing program in support of Democratic candidates. In 2024, deployed 2,000+ canvassers knocking on 4.3 million voter doors in ten states to support Presidential, Senate, House and down-ballot races.

Scale indicators21 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• International Brotherhood of Teamsters: Teamsters represents ~1.3M workers across transportation, warehouse, and service industries. Directly comparable as a major U.S./Canadian union with similar dues model, large-scale bargaining, and growing hospitality-adjacent exposure (airline catering, gaming, airport services).
• Service Employees International Union (SEIU): SEIU is one of the largest labor unions in North America, representing property service, healthcare, and government workers. Directly comparable as a private-sector union competing in overlapping worksites (hospitality-adjacent property services, airports) and operating a similar dues-funded collective bargaining model.
• United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW): UFCW represents grocery, meatpacking, food processing, and retail workers in the U.S. and Canada. Directly comparable for its food-service and hospitality-adjacent organizing footprint and dues-funded collective bargaining model.
• International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM): IAM represents transport (airline), manufacturing, and service workers with strong overlap into airline catering and airport services. Directly comparable as a union competing in the same aviation and ground-transport bargaining units UNITE HERE organizes.
• American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME): AFSCME represents ~1.4M public- and private-sector workers and operates not-for-profit health programs analogous to UNITE HERE's health plans. Closely comparable scale, dues model, and member-benefit infrastructure.
• Laborers' International Union of North America (LiUNA): LiUNA represents construction, service, and hospitality-adjacent workers across the U.S. and Canada. Comparable as a peer private-sector labor union with similar cross-border bargaining and dues-funded service-delivery model.

Broad incumbents

• United Auto Workers (UAW): UAW is a major private-sector U.S. labor union with similar dues-funded collective bargaining, strike-driven negotiating leverage, and a U.S./Canada footprint. Comparable as a similarly structured industrial/private-sector union though in a different vertical.
• American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO): The AFL-CIO is the largest U.S. labor federation of which UNITE HERE is a member. Comparable as the umbrella body coordinating many of the same political canvassing, lobbying, and policy functions UNITE HERE conducts at the affiliate level.
• National Education Association (NEA): NEA is the largest U.S. labor union with ~3M members, operating large-scale political canvassing and member benefit programs similar to UNITE HERE's. Comparable as a peer mega-union with significant political and dues-funded infrastructure.
• American Federation of Teachers (AFT): AFT is a major U.S. labor federation of ~1.7M members with substantial political canvassing operations similar to UNITE HERE's. Comparable as a peer U.S. union running multi-state electoral field programs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/unitehere
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/uniteherevideos
• Facebookfacebook.com/uniteherelocal75
• Instagraminstagram.com/unitehere
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/unite-here

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Unite Here