BALTIMORE (AP) -
Baltimore’s mayor has vetoed two bills that would have required hospitality businesses to rehire laid-off workers in the city once they reopen and hotels to retain staff if their owners change.
The Baltimore City Council approved both bills by wide margins amid pushback from the hotel industry, but Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young called the bills government overreach when they got to his desk this week, The Baltimore Sun reported.
“While I appreciate the intent of this bill and agree that the city needs to continue doing everything it can to help our service workers weather the COVID-19 pandemic, I cannot in good conscience sign this particular piece of legislation which overreaches the authority of the Council and of City Government,” Young wrote in his veto letter.
The legislations were supported by Unite Here, a union that represents workers in the hospitality industry. Roxie Herbekian, Unite Here’s Local 7 president, said in a statement that Young’s claims “that the legislation oversteps the law is bogus.”
“It is more than disappointing that outgoing Mayor Young has shown such little regard for Baltimore’s hospitality workers who are out of work through no fault of their own,” she said.
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