The New Jersey State Assembly approved a bill that requires hotels to provide panic devices for housekeepers that alert security in case of an emergency by a 76 to 0 vote.
The state Senate, which unanimously approved similar legislation in January, will now vote again on the amended bill.
The legislation requires hotels with at least 100 rooms to equip employees performing housekeeping or room service duties with panic devices for their protection against inappropriate conduct by guests.
Unite Here Local 54, the labor union that represents nearly one-third of casino and hospitality workers in Atlantic City pushed for the legislation.
“This is a bill that should not be controversial, and it’s not,” Local 54 President Bob McDevitt told the Press of Atlantic City. “It will go a long way to get the workers more security and more peace of mind on the job.”
Assemblymen Vince Mazzeo and John Armato, both D-Atlantic, were primary sponsors of the bill. State Senator Chris Brown, R-Atlantic, was a primary sponsor of the upper chamber’s version.
“Listening to the serious safety concerns of our local families working in the hospitality industry, I reached across the aisle to build overwhelming bipartisan support to ensure we take every measure possible to protect our middle-class working men and women,” Brown said in a press release.
If adopted, New Jersey would be the first state to require such devices for hotel workers.
