Union officers
Rich Maroko, President
President of the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, AFL-CIO; Business Manager of Hotel, Gaming, Restaurant, Club Employees & Bartenders Union, Local 6 UNITE HERE.
Throughout his more than 20 years at HTC, Rich has distinguished himself as a fierce negotiator and tireless advocate for workers. He has developed an exceptionally effective strategic approach to fighting for our members. As a result, under his leadership, our union has achieved the best contracts in our nearly 100-year history and passed laws that have a tangible impact the lives of hotel and gaming workers across our region.
As President, Rich is the chief executive officer of our union.
Union officers
Ray Macco
Secretary-Treasurer | Hotel & Gaming Trades CouncilRay is the Business Manager and Financial Secretary of IUOE Local 94, 94A and 94B, and the Secretary-Treasurer of the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council. Ray started with IUOE Local 94 in 1981 where he was IT Director. Ray developed the first software for the Union and Benefit Funds. Ray worked in commercial office buildings at City Spire and 299 Park Ave and was an instructor in the Local 94 Training Center. In 2001, Ray was hired as a Business Representative in the School Division for Brooklyn and Queens. In 2015 he was made the downtown Commercial Division Business Representative and in 2019 became the Assistant Business Manager. In 2026, Ray was appointed as Secretary-Treasurer of HTC.
Vanessa Meade
HTC Recording Secretary | Local 6 PresidentRecording Secretary of the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council, AFL-CIO, and President of Local 6, UNITE HERE. Vanessa began working as a Room Attendant at the Vista Hotel in 1982. She was soon elected as a union delegate by the co-workers in her department. When a terrorist bomb at the World Trade Center destroyed part of the Vista Hotel in 1993, she went to the union's headquarters to help find jobs for her coworkers. She became a Business Agent in 1994, a Vice President of Local 6 in 1997 and Executive Vice President in 2003. In 2020, she became Recording Secretary for the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council.
Samantha Klein
General Organizer | Hotel & Gaming Trades CouncilSince joining our union in 2011, Samantha Klein has been the lead organizer of over 40 organizing drives and has helped thousands of workers to join our union, including notable wins at del Lago Resort & Casino, the Baccarat Hotel, and the Marriott Downtown. She took over the union’s digital communications, website, and Hotel Voice during the COVID-19 pandemic and today, leads the union’s operations, oversees the development of new member services & training programs, and jointly supervises our external organizing team. She was appointed as the General Organizer in 2023.
Lance Van Arsdale
Executive Vice President | Hotel & Gaming Trades CouncilExecutive Vice President of the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council and an Assistant Business Manager of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3.
Randy Sullivan
Vice President | Hotel & Gaming Trades CouncilVice President of the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council and President of Hotel Maintenance Painters Union Local 1422.
Hazel Hazzard
HTC Vice President | Local 6 Vice PresidentVice President of the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council and Local 6, UNITE HERE, Hazel Hazzard began working as a Room Attendant at the Four Seasons Hotel when it opened in 1993.
Steve Miller
HTC Vice President | Local 6 Executive Vice PresidentVice President of the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council and Executive Vice President of Local 6, UNITE HERE. Steve has been working for unions his entire adult life.
Eddie Cedeño
HTC Vice President | Local 6 Senior Vice PresidentEddie serves as a Senior Vice President of Local 6, HTC Vice President, and HTC Regional Director.
Nick Galipeau
Vice President | Hotel & Gaming Trades CouncilNick Galipeau is a 2004 graduate of Fordham University, who put himself through college by working nights as a public school custodian. In that employment, Galipeau was a member of SEIU Local 32BJ. After a brief tenure with SEIU, Nick joined the Local 153 staff in 2009, serving in multiple roles ranging from Business Representative to the union’s Director of Organizing. Richard Lanigan noted that in his 14 years at Local 153, Nick Galipeau has skillfully represented members employed at universities and hotels, as well as other shops. Galipeau completed Cornell University’s Union Leadership program and he sits on the New York City Central Labor Council’s Executive Board. In 2025, Nick became a Vice President of HTC.
Delegates to the Enlarged Council
Nicole Aigoro
Local 6 Trustee | Delegate to the Enlarged Council | Valet Attendant at the New York Hilton
Francisco Avalos
Local 6 Executive Board | Delegate to the Enlarged Council | Banquet Captain at the New York Hilton
Amy Bokerman
HTC General Counsel | Delegate to the Enlarged Council
Terrance Brown
Delegate to the Enlarged Council | Security Officer at Ink 48
Darren Capra
Delegate to the Enlarged Council | Painter at New York Hilton
Miguel Castañeda
Business Agent | Delegate to the Enlarged Council
Sandra Charles
Delegate to the Enlarged Council | Security Officer at Resorts World NYC
David Davitt
Delegate to the Enlarged Council | Security Officer at Thompson Central Park
Margarita Denton
Director of Organizing | Delegate to the Enlarged Council
Kelly Drummond
Business Agent | Delegate to the Enlarged Council
Kazi Hossain
Local 6 Trustee | Delegate to the Enlarged Council | Room Service Waiter at Park Lane
Nancy Hull
Business Agent | Delegate to the Enlarged Council
Joe Messineo
Secretary-Treasurer of Local 6 | Delegate to the Enlarged Council
Marie Richard
Local 6 Vice President | Delegate to the Enlarged CouncilJoining the Union in 1986 as a Room Attendant at the Westin Grand Central, Marie went on to work at the Hyatt Grand Central in 1988, where she became a Delegate in 2002. Her Business Agent at the time, Hazel Hazzard, remembers a “troublemaker” and “strong Delegate” who spear- headed a successful work stoppage in 2003, when the hotel’s cooling tower began spewing toxic mist onto East 42nd Street. On the heels of her success organizing co-workers against an unsafe work environment, Marie was called upon to travel to Washington, D.C., where she helped Local 25 hospitality workers win the strongest renewal contract in their history. Marie was recruited as a Business Agent upon her return to New York City, and she has spent the last 20 years defending the contractual rights of thousands of HTC members, including at the Wyndham New Yorker where she staged a work stoppage in 2013 to protest unsafe asbestos removal. In 2024, Marie was appointed as a Local 6 Vice President. “For the last 20 years, Marie has been an exceptionally effective Business Agent and respected and beloved by the members she represents. It's my honor to appoint Marie as a Local 6 Vice President,” remarked Rich Maroko.
Nicholas Ruiz
Business Agent | Delegate to the Enlarged Council
Harry Rygor
Local 6 Vice President | Delegate to the Enlarged Council
Michael Angelo Savino
Delegate to the Enlarged Council | Cook at the Four Seasons
Judith Seemungal
Local 6 Executive Board | Delegate to the Enlarged Council | Turndown Attendant at the Carlyle
Eric Valencia
Delegate to the Enlarged Council | Concierge Attendant at the Dominick
Raymond Vega
Delegate to the Enlarged Council | Engineer Supervisor at the Royalton
Anthony Wilson
Business Agent | Delegate to the Enlarged Council
Phil Yasudawann
Delegate to the Enlarged Council | Bell Attendant at the Marriott Downtown
Ha Chhao Yi
Local 6 Executive Board | Delegate to the Enlarged Council | Turndown Attendant at W Times Square