Will Hospitality Workers Get Their Jobs Back? Local government wants to tell the hospitality industry how to repopulate its businesses. Employers are less than thrilled.
Minnesota, bars, restaurants, hotels, and other hospitality businesses have seen an estimated 116,000 jobs lost in the pandemic, says Hospitality Minnesota.
In March, the Minneapolis City Council approved Councilmember Steve Fletcher’s Hospitality Worker Right to Recall Ordinance to give former employees priority as jobs return. (A similar bill awaits action at the legislature, which covers the entire state and includes jobs at MSP Airport, though that bill’s fate is less promising.) The city ordinance applies to hotels or event venues with 50 or more guest rooms and event centers with at least 50,000 rentable square feet or 2,000 fixed seats. It covers employees with six months tenure who were laid off due to the pandemic, and reflects an initiative of Unite Here local 17.