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Media Articles on Law Firm Labor-Management
Committees Contained In BNA Daily Labor Report No. 178 Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 2 and 12 major San Francisco hotels Sept. 15 reached agreement on a new five-year “living” contract that provides for labor-management cooperation. Stuart Korshak, chief negotiator for the San Francisco Hotels Multi-Employer Group, which is the bargaining representative for the 12 hotels, told BNA that the tentative agreement is “a different type of settlement” in that it includes a number of cooperative joint labor-management programs. In addition, he said, the agreement is a living contract, which means that the parties would continue to meet throughout the contract term and make changes on an ongoing basis, both on a multi-group basis and at individual hotels. Korshak said that the multi-employer group and the union engaged in a joint study process for the last nine months with the purpose of creating a more cooperative approach to labor relations in the San Francisco area. A number of joint programs recommended from the study are incorporated in the contract, he said. The agreement, which would cover some 4,000 workers, provides for problem-solving teams in each hotel that would be able to change negotiated work rules during the life of the contract if a consensus is reached among all the team members, Korshak said. The contract also provides for a new mediation system to replace the traditional grievance-arbitration process. Parties would be encouraged to work together cooperatively to resolve problems, he said. A new, personal time-off system would replace the current sick leave system. Employees would have “more flexibility and respect,” while the hotels would have more flexibility in scheduling, Korshak said. Both the union and the hotels have committed “substantial sums” toward developing an extensive training program for workers to upgrade their skills, Korshak said. Korshak said the parties are still working on portions of the contract language and would not be able to provide further details until next week. HERE Local 2 spokeswoman Lisa Jaicks said the union is pleased that workers will have a greater voice in the workplace on a daily basis and will be able to address problems and make improvements in the contract during its term through the joint committees that were created. She declined to provide further details of the contract. Five other major San Francisco hotels are bargaining separately with Local 2, but according to Jaicks there are no further negotiations currently scheduled in those talks. Member of the union voted Sept. 8 to authorize a strike if necessary but have not yet set a strike date, she said. Their previous five-year contracts with all the hotels expired
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