Progress Illinois

While it's unclear whether contract negotiations between UNITE-HERE Local 1 and Chicago's major hotel chains will prove fruitful, the union and the workers it represents at the Congress Hotel earned a significant victory at City Hall today. By a 16-3 vote, the Chicago City Council Finance Committee advanced a right-to-know notification law requiring hotels affected by a work stoppage to alert guests when they book rooms. According to the union, over 1,000 customers have complained about the Congress Hotel since the strike began six years ago, many because they were unaware of the labor dispute before they made their reservations.

Marc Gordon, president and CEO of the Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association, argued in the hearing today that the bill is too broad. "This is not consumer protection," he said, as quoted by the Sun-Times. "It’s strictly an opportunity for the union to gain a tremendous, unfair, illegal advantage." Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th Ward), also a candidate for Cook County Board President, hit back, blaming the industry for standing behind a renegade within their own midst:

PRECKWINKLE: What I wonder is ...  why haven't you all attempted to do anything about this renegade in your midst? [...]

I think it borders on cowardice.  If you care about the reputation of your industry, you would do everything you could do to bring this strike to an end and to bring these folks to the table.  I think they reflect badly on your industry -- I don't care if they're members of your organization or not -- they reflect very badly on your industry and I don't know why you haven't made it a priority to do something about them over the last six years.

Ald. Rick Munoz (22nd Ward) -- the bill's chief sponsor -- agreed with his colleague, heralding the passage of the law in a statement following the vote:

“Protecting Chicago’s visitors is critical to the health of our tourism industry,” said Alderman Munoz, the Right to Know ordinance’s chief sponsor.  “If customers suffer a bad experience because of a strike or lockout, then that affects our reputation as a city.  We need to do everything we can to make sure our visitors have a good experience.”

Local 1 is also fighting a battle at the newly-reopened Blackstone Hotel, where the local and the roughly 200 workers it represents have been negotiating a contract with management for months. Back in March, the National Labor Review Board (NLRB) ruled that Sage Hospitality Resources LLC -- the hotel operator that reopened the Blackstone in March of 2008 after lengthy TIF-funded renovations -- illegally tried to decertify the workers' union by holding mandatory meetings in which they encouraged workers to sign an anti-union petition. In July, UNITE-HERE filed another complaint with the NLRB accusing managers of firing at least nine employees for union activity. That case was thrown out last week.

Given the acrimony between the two sides, negotiations are moving at a glacial pace. To gain leverage, the union has joind forces with a coalition of community groups to support its side in the dispute. The Chi-Town Daily News' Adrian G. Uribarri provides a valuable primer on that collaboration:

Frustrated over the slow pace of its first contract negotiation, the union representing many hotel workers is employing a unique strategy: They argue that the Blackstone owes a fair contract not only to its workers, but also to the public. The hotel, they say, is a beneficiary of millions in public financing and has a debt to Chicago and the United States.

The union has also enlisted a coalition of community members to support its side in negotiations.

"When you get public money, you should be working on behalf of the public good," says William McNary, leader of the community delegation. "We don't think it's in the public interest to create more working poor. We think it's in the public benefit to promote people from poverty to the middle class."

Images used under a Creative Commons license by Flickr user Swanksalot.