Overseas investors buy up landmark NYC hotel at deep discount and loyal workers lose out
The Surrey is a century-old NYC hotel that has hosted American presidents and cultural icons. For decades, the Surrey operated as a union hotel with nearly 100 union-represented employees.
But in 2020, this landmark hotel was bought by a real estate firm owned by overseas investors. The new owner and the management company chosen to run the Surrey, Corinthia, did not rehire the workers who had kept the hotel running for decades. Our union considers that this was in breach of a NYC law passed during the height of the pandemic, which was designed to protect hotel workers from losing their jobs when a hotel changes hands. The affected workers have now filed a lawsuit to have this issue determined.
How did we get here?
In 2020, the Surrey hotel was forced into bankruptcy during the pandemic. The iconic hotel closed its doors, and nearly 100 of the hotel's workers, many of whom had worked at the hotel for decades, were cast aside.
An overseas-based private real estate and investment firm went on a buying spree in NYC and took advantage of pandemic-induced fire sales. The Surrey was one of their discounted bargains.
In December 2020, the Surrey was sold at a deep discount to the overseas investors. They then hired Corinthia – an international management company focused on luxury landmark properties, who lauded the Surrey as “New York’s most desirable address.”
Behind the façade
After extensive renovations, the Surrey had its grand re-opening in October 2024. Hosting celebrities and luxury clients, the standard room rate is upwards of $1,200 per night, with suites going for $10,000 a night.
But behind the façade of class and elegance the picture is quite different:
Lost livelihoods: The new owners wouldn't give nearly 100 of the hotel's workers their jobs back.
Slashed wages: Wages in some departments, such as in room dining, have been cut in half. Housekeeping wages have plummeted. Front desk agents at the property are getting paid nearly $10 an hour less than their union-represented counterparts in New York City.
Subcontractors brought in: The hotel brought in a subcontracting agency, MevRam, to run housekeeping. Subcontracting agencies are known for pressuring workers to cut corners, unsanitary conditions, wage theft, and other health and safety issues.
Suspected discriminatory tactics: Our union filed unfair labor practice charges, alleging that the hotel discriminated against employees by failing to recall or hire nearly every worker that applied with their previous union experience at the Surrey and other union-represented hotels on their resume. We are waiting for this to be determined.
Mery Coronado, a room attendant at the Surrey since 2010, has had her life turned upside down. “I am a single mom, so my job at the Surrey means everything to me,” Mery said. “This job fed my two daughters, paid for us to live in a good apartment, and enabled me to buy a car. When I lost this job, it was devastating. I’ve had to go into debt just to survive, to keep food on the table and the lights on.”
MERY CORONADO, Former Surrey Worker
“I’m fighting for my job back, so I can get my family’s life back.”
VANESSA GARCIA, Housekeeping
“Day care was too expensive. I had to stay home. My husband had to take a second job so we could cover our bills. The Surrey just discarded me, and it didn’t just affect me. It affected my whole family.”
What the law says
During the pandemic, our union urged the New York City Council to pass a law that would protect the City’s hotel workers in the event that their hotels changed hands. In September 2020, the City Council voted 45 to 4 to pass the Displaced Hotel Service Workers Act, which requires that hotels retain employees for at least 90 days following a sale of a hotel or other change in control.
The Act went into effect while the Surrey hotel was closed for renovations. When the hotel reopened last year, in October 2024, our union urged the hotel to offer jobs to the original Surrey employees. They did not.
The Surrey owners' approach to the workers
On multiple occasions, our union notified the hotel’s new owner and management company of our view of their obligations to retain the workers under the NYC law. We sent them lists of all of the workers who we consider they were obligated to offer their jobs back, along with copies of the workers’ resumes. The hotel simply failed to respond.
Realizing that the hotel would likely open without them being offered their jobs back, many of the Surrey workers re-applied for the open positions directly.
Of the dozens of resumes that the workers submitted to the hotel, nearly every worker with the ‘Surrey’ included in their employment history was denied even the opportunity to interview. Ironically, the very people most qualified to do the job were likely being discriminated against because they had experience working at a union hotel on their resume.
Donna McCammon, a turndown room attendant at the Surrey since 2002, was eager to go back to work at the Surrey when the hotel finally reopened last year. Instead, she was never called back to her job.
“Losing my job at the Surrey has been one of the hardest experiences of my life. I am the sole breadwinner for my household, and without the steady income, it was incredibly difficult. I went from a stable job at the Surrey that allowed me to provide for my family, to having to take a job working the overnight shift just to survive,” Donna said. “After working at the Surrey for decades, I had the expectation that my coworkers and I were going back to our jobs. We’re not giving up that hope,” she added.
“We see this hotel as a love letter to New York and a beacon of the city’s creative spirit,” said Corinthia’s CEO in a statement on the day of the hotel’s grand reopening. However nearly all of the hardworking New Yorkers who had reached out about getting their jobs back were ignored by the new owner.
What are we doing about it?
Our union has filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, over our concerns that the hotel appears to have discriminated against employees by failing to hire or recall nearly every Surrey worker who applied for their jobs back based on their support of our union and experience working at union-represented hotels.
On March 26, 2025, the Surrey workers banded together and filed a lawsuit alleging that the new owner of the Surrey breached NYC law by failing to give them their jobs back. Our union is standing behind them. We’re gearing up to launch other actions, and we won’t stop until every worker is offered their jobs back.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned for further updates.