Monday, August 3, 2009

Another Hotel Strike Coming to Michigan Avenue?

According to Chicago Business, the Blackstone Hotel and their workers are having some issues hammering out a new contract:
Labor tensions are flaring at the Blackstone Hotel just as union leaders and local hotel owners prepare to negotiate a new contract for about 6,500 workers at 30 Chicago-area hotels where the current pact expires at the end of this month.
Most people are familiar with the long standing strike at the Congress hotel, but this is the first we've heard about issues at Blackstone. Regardless, this strike might not lead to a picket line but it's still could be a PR issue for the Olympic bid:
Both sides, however, may feel pressure to avoid a high-profile, protracted fight that could send convention business to other cities. A hotel labor brawl also would be a public-relations setback for Mayor Richard M. Daley's 2016 Olympics bid, with the final decision on a host city coming in early October. Union picketers have been marching in front of another Michigan Avenue hotel, the Congress Plaza, since 2003.
(photo from chicagobusiness.com)

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