Hotel unions have spent millions promoting tighter regulations on the home-sharing giant.
Airbnb said Friday it will hire union construction labor for new real-estate developments, the latest sign that the home-sharing company is trying to strengthen its support from organized labor.
The San-Francisco-based company said it would team up only with developers that hire workers organized under the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America umbrella. Projects include 10 that Airbnb plans to invest in over the next three years and possibly others later on.
While Airbnb has long been known as a listing platform for short-term accommodations, the company has been expanding into other business lines, as it prepares to go public this year. That includes working directly with apartment landlords, who are converting or developing new buildings with units designed to be listed on Airbnb.
Airbnb’s deal with the union follows a series of political defeats, as more local governments curtail short-term rentals, citing nuisance to building residents or concerns about affordable housing.
The Carpenters union and its affiliates boast political clout in markets where Airbnb has a continuing interest. The union is well established in New Jersey, where Airbnb was dealt a major blow in November after Jersey City, across the Hudson River from Manhattan, voted to severely limit the use of short-term rental platforms.
The Hotel Trades Council, a hotel workers union, spent close to $1 million dollars on ads urging voters to support the stricter Jersey City regulations. Airbnb spent about $4 million opposing it, according to public filings.
The Carpenters union has “a well-documented reputation for doing the heavy lifting to both build projects, but also to be great partners and support their partners who they are working with,” Airbnb spokesman Chris Lehane said.
Written by Will Parker for wsj.com.
