This article has been updated to clarify Schulte Hospitality Group’s role in union recognition.
Esperanza Mayorga has dedicated 11 years of her life to keeping rooms tidy at the famous .
But since the Nashville-based company AJ Capital Partners took over ownership of the hotel last year, she said, she’s being worked to the bone.
What once was a workload of cleaning 11 rooms in a standard shift has ballooned to more than 20, by her estimation, in a shorter workday. She has to thoroughly clean each room before her shift ends. Mayorga says her sister, also a housekeeper at the Boulderado, has faced a similar workload surge. That reality has placed stress on her, she said, and she worries that she’ll be unable to meet the breakneck pace.
Thatap why Mayorga, 52, is throwing her support behind the unionization effort organized by staffers of the 117-year-old hotel.
“I used to work very happy,” Mayorga told the Daily Camera through an interpreter, unable to hold back tears. “Now I’m unhappy working … with so much pressure because I know that they want to push me out.”
Workers at the Hotel Boulderado publicly announced their intention to unionize last week. Their reasoning is discontent with an increasing workload, loss of benefits for some, and an increasing cost of living. They let their manager know of their intentions last Wednesday and held a news conference announcing their intention on the same day. Organizers say they have majority support for a union. If recognized, the union will be a part of Unite Here! Local 23, a union for hospitality workers.
The smoothest path to unionization would be voluntary recognition from Schulte Hospitality Group, which manages the Hotel Boulderado for AJ Capital. Schulte had not yet done so as of Tuesday. If Schulte doesn’t do so, union organizers said, itap unclear how the process will unfold.
Workers are scheduled to picket at 4:45 p.m. Wednesday outside of the hotel, at 2115 13th St.
In the eyes of Mayorga and Maggie Roesink, a 24-year-old who works as a server and bartender at the hotel, itap necessary for their employment that they’re granted union protections. Roesink was told in January that she was no longer considered a full-time employee and lost her paid time off and eligibility for benefits. Yet, she said, she still worked full-time hours after that “for a period of time.”
Mayorga and Roesink spoke on behalf of staff attempting to unionize. AJ Capital could not be reached for comment.
Mayorga said she’s now down to working two shifts of less than eight hours each and has been given a warning for not working fast enough. She also said that housekeepers are low on linens for the hotel rooms.
Roesink added that staff have heard rumblings of hotel renovations coming in August. If thatap the case, itap unclear to staff if or how they’re going to be paid during those renovations or if they’ll even have a job.
The city of Boulder issued a utility permit on April 21 for a renovation project at the hotel, city records show. That project involves renovating the south wing of the property, which includes but is not limited to extending stairs to connect the upper and ground floors, modifying three guest rooms and converting second-floor storage rooms into guest rooms.
“There is a sense of urgency to it because we want to make sure that we get a contract or get into negotiations before we all potentially get laid off,” Roesink said. She also echoed Mayorga in that staff are “all pretty fed up with the treatment and the increased workload with the decreased support.”
The Sundance Film Festival’s looming arrival also adds to the urgency, Roesink said. She thinks that the staff needs more support and can’t keep the status quo. While she’s confident that staff will do their best, she’s worried about being overworked. Currently, for the Sundance dates, Jan. 21-31, 2027.
“They’re not booking regular people, which leads all of us to make assumptions about (why that is). Are we not booking? Do we have some kind of secret NDA with Sundance (where) all of the (executives) are staying at the hotel?” Roesink questioned. “We’re talking about thousands of dollars that are going to be going into the pockets of the AJ execs and into the hotel, but then we’re being repeatedly told that we don’t have the money for staff.”
The Boulderado is set to become a Graduate by Hilton, a collection of hotels housed in college towns. That reality underscores the need for unionization, organizers said in a news release.
In April, the laid off dozens of staff members and replaced them with temporary contract workers. The Graduate in New York suddenly closed its doors before Thanksgiving last year, leaving staff unemployed before the holiday season and embroiling the owners in a
Boulderado staff’s efforts are the latest in a string of labor activism in Boulder as the city grapples with affordability and economic vibrancy. In December, And the Boulder Public Library District Board of Trustees voted unanimously to recognize a staff unionization effort in May. A discussion on how much lower tipped-wage workers can be paid compared to the rest of the city is also a hot topic in city politics.
