Fired Union Workers Protest NYC Hotel Hosting A-List Celebrities for Met Gala

Fired union workers protested The Surrey Hotel in New York City, where A-list celebrities were staying before making their way to the red carpet at the Met Gala on Monday.

A slew of A-list stars were confronted with a labor dispute by members of the Hotel Trade Council union as the celebrities left their swanky hotels in Manhattan’s Upper East Side and headed to the red carpet for the annual fundraising gala at the famed Met Museum.

The union held a protest outside The Surrey Hotel on East 76th Street, where many of the celebrities were either staying at or nearby.

In 2020, during the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, The Surrey shuttered its doors, then went into bankruptcy, notedNew York Post.

In October, the hotel reopened under the Corinthia Hotels brand, with the global investment company Reuben Brothers — headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland — as its new owner.

But the nearly 100 hotel employees who lost their jobs during the Wuhan virus pandemic were never rehired by the new owners — a move that the Hotel Trade Council has slammed as a union-busting scheme.

“I am a single mom, so my job at The Surrey means everything to me,” former employee Merry Coronado — who worked at the hotel for ten years before being laid off — told New York Post. “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,” Coronado continued. “I’ve had to go into debt just to survive, to keep food on the table and the lights on. I’m fighting for my job back, so I can get my family’s life back.”

Another ex-Surrey employee, Donna McCammon — who had worked at the hotel since 2002 — told the newspaper, “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,” she continued. “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.”

McCammon added that, “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.”

Rich Maroko, the president of the Hotel Trade Council, said former Surrey employees like Coronado and McCammon were “unfairly cast aside” by the hotel’s new owners.

“We’re calling on the celebrities staying at The Surrey to show support for the workers and join us in demanding that they be rehired,” Maroko said.

Before the Met Gala began, the union had reportedly called representatives for each of the celebrities, asking them to “step off the red carpet” and show their support for the laid-off hotel workers.

Some of the notable guests staying at The Surrey ahead of this year’s Met Gala allegedly include rapper Cardi B, actor Tom Cruise, signers Alicia Keys and Shakira, soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, NFL star Jalen Hurts, actress Angela Bassett, fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, and executives from Burberry, Valentino, and Stella McCartney.

In March, fired Surrey Hotel employees filed a lawsuit against Reuben Brothers and Corinthia, accusing the new management of violating a pandemic-era U.S. law aimed at retaining workers, even if ownership ends up changing. The case is still pending.

Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.