UNITE HERE - A Merged New Union

A Merged New Union

Bruce Raynor, then president of UNITE, and John W. Wilhelm of HERE, became close friends after meeting on a HERE picket line at Yale University in 2003. The two men quickly concluded that their unions should merge. UNITE HERE was formed in 2004 by the merger of UNITE (the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees) and HERE (Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union). The impetus for the merger was that UNITE was wealthy but losing a significant number of members, while HERE had little cash but had a large number of organizing opportunities which could lead to hundreds of thousands of new members. The merged entity had 440,000 active members and about 400,000 retired members in both the United States and Canada. Raynor was elected general president of the merged union and Wilhelm was named president of the merged union's hospitality division, but the two men shared executive, budgetary, and personnel duties.

In 2005, UNITE HERE withdrew from the AFL-CIO and joined the Change to Win Federation, along with several other unions, including the Laborers' International Union of North America, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Service Employees International Union, United Farm Workers, and United Food and Commercial Workers. UNITE HERE Vice-President Edgar Romney was elected the first secretary-treasurer of the new labor federation.