City Newspaper Archives - 4/2008
LABOR: Different name, same labor issues at Crowne Plaza
Published by Jeremy Moule on Apr 01, 2008
The owner is severing ties with the Crowne Plaza chain and by April 18, the building will be called the Rochester Plaza Hotel. But labor advocates and a clergy group say that won't change a long-standing conflict between the hotel's workers and management. And a boycott of the business, sponsored by those same groups, will continue.
For about two years, hotel employees have been trying to build support for a union vote, but management has been discouraging the employees, says Kaaren Anderson, a co-minister at First Unitarian Universalist Church and vice chair for Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice.
"Right now, they are being threatened and intimidated just trying to think about a union," Anderson says.
Hotel management has said it would abide by the results of a vote, but there hasn't been sufficient support to hold one.
Before a vote can be held, an employee or union representative must submit a petition to the National Labor Relations Board showing support from at least 30 percent of the employees.
A local union, UNITE HERE, filed charges against the hotel with the NLRB's Buffalo office, alleging that the hotel's owners and management were interfering with organizing activity. The board investigated and issued a complaint, which is pending before the national board.
A powerful teacher's union, NYSUT, has pulled its 2009 conference out of Rochester in support of the hotel workers. The Public Employees Federation has cancelled reservations there, too.
Article Photos
The Crowne Plaza Hotel on State Street is going independent and will be called the Rochester Plaza Hotel. But that's not expected to change an ongoing labor dispute there. Photo by Joe Bell.
