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Media Articles on Law Firm San
Francisco Hotel, Union Accord Cutting BNA Daily Labor Report San Francisco-A San Francisco union representing hotel workers has cut the cost of grievances in the six months since conclusion of a ground-breaking labor- management agreement for the industry, a panel of hotel and union officials said March 15. And the agreement forged by a San Francisco multiemployer group, representing 12 hotels, and Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 2 and Service Employees International Union Local 14, can be a model for any industry, the speakers said at an Industrial Relations Research Association luncheon. The agreement covers 4,200 San Francisco hotel employees (178 DLR A-12, 9/16/94). The existing grievance and arbitration procedure was scuttled and replaced with a grievance-mediation system "where we shoved the decision-making down to a much lower level in the process," so the problem could be resolved at the first step in a nonprecedential way, said Los Angeles attorney Stuart R. Korshak, who represented management in negotiations with the union. Grievance Mediation Added When a grievance cannot be resolved at the lower steps, a professional mediator is brought. The mediator can issue a written decision to take both sides "off the hook," he said. In the first six months of this contract, "we've already seen a drop in costs for our union in terms of arbitration. And it allows our attorneys to really focus on those grievances and those cases that are most critical to the union," said Local 2 Secretary- Treasurer Mike Casey. "I think in the long run that this is going to be recognized throughout the country. I think it is being recognized as something that is not only worth trying but could very well spell a great deal of prosperity for all parties and very necessary for our very survival in the future," said Casey. The customer standpoint plays a large part in the agreement, said Chuck Floyd, general manager at the Grand Hyatt Hotel and president of the multiemployer group. "I believe that if done well, over time this could turn into a competitive edge for San Francisco," as the good management-labor relationship is reflected in the employees, Floyd said. Training programs funded by a $1.8 million surplus in union health and welfare funds and from reductions in health insurance costs will educate the hotel workers for the future industry. The amount represents nine to 18 times the amount the industry spends on average for employee training, said Korshak. The contract will pay off over time as workers gain a reputation as the best trained in the industry. "I guarantee you that is going to be used by the [visitors and convention] bureau and our hotels to go out and make a difference when competing against Chicago, New Orleans, New York," and other convention cities, Floyd said. The agreement was later signed by the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 39 and other Class-A hotels in the city. The hotels now are negotiating with the Teamsters, which represents front-desk and office workers. The unions and hotels have received a $100,000 Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service grant to promote labor-management cooperation and also are expecting to receive a "very substantial" grant from a California state training panel to create a massive training fund, Korshak said. "Most importantly, most of the hotel chains we believe are watching this model to determine whether or not it works because most hotel chains are represented in San Francisco," Korshak said. "We believe that if this model of labor relations between hotels and their unions works, it will influence those hotel chains in labor negotiations elsewhere. We believe that if it does not work, it will also influence those hotels and labor negotiations elsewhere." Each of the 12 hotels, Westin St. Francis, ANA,
Fairmont, Four seasons Clift, Handlery, four Holiday Inns, Hyatt
Regency, Grand Hyatt, and the Sheraton Palace is establishing an
individual problem-solving team that can override the master agreement
if the union and general manager agree, said Korshak. Those
teams will begin to be implemented in about two weeks. |