New York hotel workers union reaches deal to avoid strike ahead of World Cup

Key points

• A deal between a New York hotel union and an hospitality industry group is set to boost the earnings of hotel housekeepers to more than $100,000, as part of a pact to avoid threatened strike action during the Fifa World Cup beginning in June.
• The eight-year contract agreement between the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council – representing 27,000 hotel workers – and the Hotel Association of New York City, which represents 250 hotels, establishes 50% wage raises along with free family healthcare, increased pension contributions, new benefit funds and expanded rights at work, union officials said.
• The terms of the deal were announced on Monday, on the same day that unions representing Long Island railroad workers called off a strike that had for three days crippled the rail transport system into the city.
• The hotel workers’ deal will raise the housekeepers’ pay of nearly $40 an hour to more than...