Richard A. Maroko is Recording Secretary and General Counsel of the Hotel Trades Council (HTC), AFL-CIO. HTC represents almost 40,000 workers in the hotel and gaming industries across New Jersey and New York.
During his almost 20 years with HTC, Mr. Maroko has distinguished himself as a fierce advocate for workers. He has negotiated hundreds of ground-breaking labor contracts, including bargaining the union's master contract, valued at over $2.5 Billion per year. Mr. Maroko also directs the union's operations in New Jersey, where HTC recently tripled its membership and won the first ever state-wide master contract in the hotel industry.
As a civically active New Jersey resident, and as a commuter who relies on NJ TRANSIT's Montclair-Boonton Line, Mr. Maroko is committed to seeing meaningful and permanent improvements to NJ TRANSIT operations across the state.
Mr. Maroko graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Rutgers College, earned a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and later received a Master's degree in Labor and Employment Law, with distinction, from Georgetown University Law School. He was a long-time adjunct professor of Labor and Employment Law at Queens College, and is currently on the Board of Cornell University's Center for Innovative Hospitality and Employment Relations.
Mr. Maroko is the son of Polish and Brazilian immigrants. He currently resides in Montclair with his wife, Chanon, and is the proud father of Maria, Zoe, and Isabel.