L.A. Hotels Make Offer to Union
By Margo McCall -- Tradeshow Week, 5/30/2005
A group of downtown Los Angeles hotels has offered union workers substantial raises and signing bonuses of up to $1,000 for agreeing to a contract that expires in 2008, rather than the 2006 expiration the union is seeking to synchronize future negotiations.
But according to David Koff, a spokesman for Local 11 of Unite Here, the offer is "too little, too late." The sweetened deal comes after several rounds of negotiations and a boycott that the union contends has resulted in $10 million in lost city business.
The Los Angeles Hotel Employer's Council made the offer — which calls for free health care, higher pension contributions and hourly wage increases of up to $2.50 over four years — after the Beverly Hilton joined six other L.A. hotels in approving new contracts with 2006 expirations.
Fred Muir, a spokesman for the council, said the offer was intended to quickly end the long-running dispute. "We're not looking at months, we're looking at weeks," he said.
Meanwhile, the sale of two hotels has reduced the council's ranks to seven establishments. They include the Westin Century Plaza, Sheraton Universal, Hyatt Regency West Hollywood, Millennium Biltmore, Regent Beverly Wilshire, Westin Bonaventure and Wilshire Grand.
The new owners of the Hyatt Regency Los Angeles, a former council member, have agreed to the 2006 expiration. "Our sense is that the tide is turning," Koff said.
Muir acknowledged that the union boycott has had some effect. "We do recognize that we have lost business. Just how much is unclear," he said.
The Natl. Education Assn. for one will advise members to steer clear of two council hotels in its list of 24 official hotels if the dispute isn't settled before its July 1–6 annual meeting, which is due to draw 15,000 to the Los Angeles Convention Center.
"In support of Local 11's hotel workers, who are still fighting after more than a year for a fair contract, NEA will honor the union's boycott," said spokeswoman Melinda Anderson. "If the labor dispute is not resolved by the time of the NEA convention, we will not use some downtown hotels that we otherwise would have."
Local 11 is one of three Unite Here locals that were pushing for a 2006 contract expiration, a strategy intended to put the union on equal footing when negotiating with national hotel chains. Workers in Washington, D.C., have already settled on a contract set to expire in 2007, rather than 2006. But like their Los Angeles counterparts, workers in San Francisco remain without a contract, and have been urging a boycott of the affected hotels.
Koff said he recognizes that the dispute has put meeting planners in an awkward position. Even groups typically sensitive to labor issues frequently can't change long-term venue plans without incurring tremendous cost. Because of that, Unite Here has set up a Web site offering advice for meeting planners whose venues are embroiled in labor strife.
San Francisco has lost at least two big meetings as a result of the Unite Here boycott. The American Anthropological Assn. last November moved its 2,500-attendee meeting from the San Francisco Hilton to the Atlanta Hilton. And in March, the Organization of American Historians moved its 2,500-attendee annual meeting from the San Francisco Hilton to the nearby San Jose McEnery Convention Center.
A third group, the Sierra Club, changed its housing arrangements so members wouldn't have to stay in affected hotels for the environmental group's first-ever Sierra Club Natl. Environmental Convention & Expo, set for San Francisco's Moscone Center Sept. 8–11.
