"A tentative five-year contract for roughly 5,000 hospitality workers was reached just hours before a union-set strike deadline, averting what could have been one of the largest hospitality strikes in U.S. history. The agreement is part of a three-employer package that the union says delivered its largest-ever wage increases in the union’s 88-year history, along with workload reductions for guest-room attendants, stronger safety protections, expanded technology-related contract language, improved health-care and job-security provisions, and the right for unionized employees to honor picket lines for non-union workers seeking to organize. The deal now goes to employee ratification, a process expected to take up to about ten days, and was closed amid urgency tied to a major upcoming international race expected to draw large crowds to the city." - Janna Karel