PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by David Weil, Professor at Brandeis University and Harvard Kennedy School, on Hotel Subcontracting and Worker Protections
1:13:15
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160 sec
David Weil, a professor and former US Department of Labor official, testified on the impacts of subcontracting in the hotel industry and expressed support for the proposed hotel licensing bill. He explained how subcontracting negatively affects workers' wages, rights, and safety while benefiting hotel chains and owners.
- Weil coined the term "fissuring" to describe practices like subcontracting that shift employment responsibilities away from main businesses.
- Studies show outsourced workers are paid less, face more wage theft, and are exposed to greater health and safety risks.
- The proposed bill recognizes core hotel functions and aims to provide workers with deserved protections and rights.
David Weil
1:13:15
Thank you, Chairman, and good morning.
1:13:17
My name is David Wile.
1:13:19
I'm a professor of social policy and economics at Grand Ice University.
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And visiting professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.
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I also served in the Obama administration as the head of the US Department of Labor's wage in our division.
1:13:34
Growing use of subcontracting and its on workers' businesses in the public as something I've studied for almost 2 decades.
1:13:41
I coined the term fissuring to describe practices like subcontracting adopted by businesses that give them the benefits of a workforce while shifting responsibility of employment to other parties.
1:13:54
In the hotel industry, fissuring means that hotel chains and owners benefit from a well known brand, usually the reason that customers select a property but shed the messy problem and responsibilities of employment to subcontractors.
1:14:08
That means when you walk into many US hotels today, the brand you see over the entry and throughout the building, including on uniforms of housekeepers or front desk workers, no longer represents the employer of record.
1:14:22
As you well, here today, workers bear the brunt of fishermen.
1:14:26
The more business layers there are, the more players need overhead and profit margins.
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Subcontracted work in hotels is labor intensive and puts downward pressure on wages.
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Many studies shows that workers who have been outsourced are paid significantly less for doing the exact same work as direct employees.
1:14:45
For the same reason, thyroid workers are more likely to be subjected to wage though.
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Subcontract workers are more exposed to health and safety risks, sexual harassment, and other violations of basic rights.
1:14:57
I have documented this in my own academic studies, and I saw it firsthand in running the Department of Labor's wage and allied committee.
1:15:05
I applaud the proposed bill because it recognizes that certain core functions in particular front desk and housekeeping are central to running a hotel.
1:15:15
With the benefits of controlling those functions comes the responsibility associated with it.
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By making interview
UNKNOWN
1:15:21
test, what are your time to expire?
David Weil
1:15:23
The rule can provide the workers that they they deserve and protections in rights they have under the law.
1:15:29
There are many hotels in New York City who continue to directly employ core workers demonstrating that such practices can be compatible with profitability as well as productivity and service quality.
1:15:41
Passing the bill will therefore benefit workers central to the hotel experience, ensure customer safety and quality they expect from hotels to maintain a viable and profitable hospitality sector in New York City.
1:15:54
Thank you.
