For Immediate Release Contact: Sam Singer Office: 415.227.9700 Cell:415.336.4949 Email: singer@singersf.com San Francisco (Aug 25, 2010)—This month marks the first anniversary of the effort by San Francisco’s hotels to get a new contract with the union that represents employees, UNITE HERE Local 2. The hotels have been unsuccessful because the union is more interested in protesting than negotiating. This week, instead of trying to solve the contract dispute, Local 2 has scheduled a two-day protest at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square, 333 O’Farrell St., on Wednesday Aug. 25 and Thursday Aug. 26. “San Francisco hotels want their employees on the job, not on the picket lines,” said Patricia Breslin, Executive Director of the Hotel Council of San Francisco. “Our association encourages productive contract talks for the benefit of all parties. The 2-day protests orchestrated by Local 2 have not significantly impacted hotel operations, but what union leaders are doing is harmful to San Francisco’s economy, tourism and international reputation.” The Hotel Council called upon Local 2 to “end its destructive practice of calling rolling protests at hotels and focus on talks at the negotiation table for the benefit of their members and the city’s hospitality industry.” Local 2 represents employees in unionized hotels around the City, whose contracts expired Aug. 14, 2009. Since then, the union has engaged in a campaign to undermine the tourism industry in San Francisco, the city’s largest single industry. “A contract should have been reached by now if Local 2’s leaders truly had been interested in coming to the bargaining table and willing to negotiate,” Breslin said. “Instead, they have put the livelihood of tens of thousands of workers at risk–including their own members.” Instead of trying to negotiate a new contract, Local has staged countless walkouts and pickets on the grounds that there was “no progress” in reaching a contract they are unwilling to negotiate. Local 2’s leaders have issued calls for convention planners to boycott San Francisco, to cancel their plans to hold large events here, and to prevent the planning of future events. Because major conventions need to plan a year or more in advance – and usually alternate their location between East and West coasts – this boycott could have the effect of costing San Francisco three or four years’ worth of convention business. “Fortunately, Local 2 has largely been unsuccessful in turning business away from San Francisco,” Breslin said. “But their actions are indicative that they will gladly harm the City of San Francisco and every business in it.” Breslin pointed out that business at hotels represents just 30 cents of every tourism dollar spent in San Francisco. The other 70 cents support taxi drivers, servers at restaurants and bars, tour guides, and unionized convention center workers. The actions orchestrated by Local 2’s leaders have been costly to tens of thousands of San Francisco workers in the tourism industry and they have been a direct drain on the city’s already depleted coffers. Every time a convention goes to another city instead of coming to S.F., the hotel tax as well as sales taxes and fees paid for the use of city convention facilities like Moscone Center are lost. Then there is also the immense cost to the city to provide public safety services around Local 2’s staged media events. In just the most recent action, Local 2 arranged for about 900 protesters to block all access to Stockton Street and the area around Union Square, at the height of rush hour. The event was so highly staged that the union had negotiated with the police well in advance to decide how many of these “protesters” would be arrested, booked and processed. More than 100 officers were required to handle the event, officers who were either pulled from other duties or paid overtime wages to deal with this event. “When any other group stages an event – whether it is the San Francisco Marathon or an anti-war march – the organizers must pay the city for the cost of those police services. Yet, incredibly, Local 2 was able to disrupt the city in such a staged manner without being made to pay more than a permit fee. All the cost was borne by taxpayers – including the very tourism industry workers whose livelihoods are threatened by these shenanigans,” Breslin said. It has become clear in the past year that securing a fair contract for its members is the last priority for Local 2’s leadership. Everything they have done is for a different agenda, one that may help the political standing of Local 2’s leaders within their national organization but does incredible harm to their San Francisco members and the economy upon which they and their families depend. Breslin said Local 2 and its leadership should be “held accountable by everyone in the City, as well as its own members. It’s high time for Local 2 to negotiate a contract, and work to restore the vital industry they have tried so hard to destroy.” [...]
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August Marks Year Anniversary Without Hotel Contract in San Francisco Hotel Council Urges UNITE HERE Union to Bargain, Not Protest For Immediate Release Contact: Sam Singer Office: 415.227.9700 Cell:415.336.4949 Email: singer@singersf.com SAN FRANCISCO (August 17, 2010) — This month marks a distressing anniversary in San Francisco: It was one year ago that the hotel employees union, Unite Here Local 2, decided that it would rather attack the city’s economic lifeblood than agree on a new contract for its nearly 9,000 union members. Local 2 represents workers in unionized hotels around the City, whose contracts expired Aug. 14, 2009. Since then, the union has engaged in a campaign to undermine the tourism industry in San Francisco, the city’s largest single industry. “A contract should have been reached by now if Local 2’s leaders truly had been interested in coming to the bargaining table and willing to negotiate,” said Patricia Breslin, executive director of the San Francisco Hotel Council, a trade organization representing the City’s hotels. “Instead, they have put the livelihood of tens of thousands of workers at risk–including their own members.” Instead of trying to negotiate a new contract, Local 2 has staged countless walkouts and pickets on the grounds that there was “no progress” in reaching a contract they are unwilling to negotiate. Local 2’s leaders have issued calls for convention planners to boycott San Francisco, to cancel their plans to hold large events here, and to prevent the planning of future events. Because major conventions need to plan a year or more in advance – and usually alternate their location between East and West coasts – this boycott could have the effect of costing San Francisco three or four years’ worth of convention business. “Fortunately, Local 2 has largely been unsuccessful in turning business away from San Francisco,” Breslin said. “But their actions are indicative that they will gladly harm the City of San Francisco and every business in it.” Breslin pointed out that business at hotels represents just 30 cents of every tourism dollar spent in San Francisco. The other 70 cents supports taxi drivers, servers at restaurants and bars, tour guides, and unionized convention center workers. The actions orchestrated by Local 2’s leaders have been costly to tens of thousands of San Francisco workers in the tourism industry and they have been a direct drain on the city’s already depleted coffers. Every time a convention goes to another city instead of coming to S.F., the hotel tax as well as sales taxes and fees paid for the use of city convention facilities like Moscone Center are lost. Then there is also the immense cost to the city to provide public safety services around Local 2’s staged media events. In just the most recent action, Local 2 arranged for about 900 protesters to block all access to Stockton Street and the area around Union Square , at the height of rush hour. The event was so highly staged that the union had negotiated with the police well in advance to decide how many of these “protesters” would be arrested, booked and processed. More than 100 officers were required to handle the event, officers who were either pulled from other duties or paid overtime wages to deal with this event. “When any other group stages an event – whether it is the San Francisco Marathon or an anti-war march – the organizers must pay the city for the cost of those police services. Yet, incredibly, Local 2 was able to disrupt the city in such a staged manner without being made to pay more than a permit fee. All the cost was borne by taxpayers – including the very tourism industry workers whose livelihoods are threatened by these questionable practices,” Breslin said. It has become clear in the past year that securing a fair contract for its members is the last priority for Local 2’s leadership. Everything they have done is for a different agenda, one that may advance Local 2’s standing within their national organization but does incredible harm to their San Francisco members and the economy upon which they and their families depend. Breslin said Local 2 and its leadership should be “held accountable by everyone in the City, as well as its own members. It’s high time for Local 2 to negotiate a contract, and work to restore the vital industry they have tried so hard to destroy.” [...] For Immediate Release Media Contact Sam Singer (415) 227-9700 Proposed “Hotel Fairness Initiative” to Damage San Francisco Economy San Francisco Controller Finds Tax to be Job Killer San Francisco, California (July 6, 2010) – Controller for the City and County of San Francisco finds that the Hotel Fairness Initiative will lead to 7.3 jobs lost for every million dollars in revenue gained. The Hotel Fairness Initiative, which includes a 2 percent increase to the current hotel tax, making it the highest of its kind in the US if passed, will decrease visitors, conferences and events from coming to the City. “There is nothing fair about pink slips and the Hotel Fairness Initiative is a job killer,” said Patricia Breslin, executive director of Hotel Council of San Francisco. “We cannot afford to risk further job loss and jeopardize the economic recovery of the City.” The hospitality industry is a vital part of San Francisco and its health is paramount to the prosperity of the City. Tourism generates more than $8 billion in annual direct spending in San Francisco and is the City’s largest industry. The Hotel Fairness Initiative will not only hurt the hotels but all businesses that service visitors. For every $1 visitors spend in a hotel, they spend $2 outside in local businesses, restaurants, retail and more. When this unjust tax price San Francisco out of reach for visitors and businesses, the loss will be felt throughout the City in all industries as well as in our city government budget. “This initiative could cost the City significant revenue, deliver hundreds of pink slips and disrupt the economic recovery of the City,” said Breslin. For more information, visit www.sfhotelnews.org. ### [...] For Immediate Release Media Contact Sam Singer (415) 227-9700 Proposed Hotel Tax Increase Would Hurt SF Tourism, Hotel Employees New Assessment Would Hike Combined Hotel-Sales Tax to 25.5% San Francisco, California (May 19, 2010) – A ballot initiative supported by Unite Here Local 2 would push the city’s hotel tax to 16%, a rate that would combine with the city’s sales tax to levy a 25.5% surcharge on San Francisco hotel rooms. Labor activists, progressive members of the Board of Supervisors and Local 2 have announced their intention to back a signature drive to qualify the so-called Hotel Fairness Initiative for the November ballot. “There is nothing fair about this proposed ballot measure,” said Sam Singer, a spokesman for the Hotel Council of San Francisco. “This tax will result in pricing San Francisco hotels out of the market during one of the worst economic downturns in history. It will threaten the livelihoods of the 9,000 men and women who work at San Francisco hotels. And it will discourage business and leisure travelers from coming to our city and spending their dollars here.” The proposed tax increase comes just one year after San Francisco hotels voluntarily taxed themselves to create a Tourism Improvement District, which in 2009 generated more than $18 million to fund improvements to the Moscone Convention Center and support the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau. At its current level of 14%, San Francisco’s hotel tax generated $147 million last year for the city’s General Fund. “San Francisco hotels have already done more that their fare share in supporting the City of San Francisco and contributing to keep the city’s number one industry, tourism, as strong as possible,” said Mr. Singer. “Here in 2010, they have apparently been rewarded with a proposed tax hike that will harm San Francisco hotels, union members and the city as a whole. Only Local 2 President Mike Casey can explain what he was thinking when he agreed to support this misguided, punitive tax measure.” San Francisco hotel employees have been working without a contract since August but continue to receive the same wages and healthcare benefits included in the previous labor agreement. Meanwhile, labor negotiations are at a standstill while Local 2’s leadership has attempted to boycott seven of the city’s largest hotels and has sought to prevent conventions and major events from coming to San Francisco. So far, Local 2’s actions have cost the City of San Francisco nearly $1 million in lost hotel tax revenue for 2010. For more information, visit www.sfhotelnews.org. [...] For Immediate Release Media Contact Sam Singer (415) 227-9700 Local 2 Strike of Hilton Hotel Threatens SF Tourism Union Leaders Urged to Return to Negotiating Table San Francisco, California (April 7, 2010) – A three-day strike of the Union Square Hilton begun today by UNITE HERE Local 2 will only further impede a fragile economic recovery in San Francisco and will force the loss of hundreds of work shifts for union members. Union leaders began their strike early this morning. Hilton employees are expected to return to their jobs by Saturday morning. “Ironically, Local 2 and Mike Casey chose to strike the Hilton just hours after the hotel hosted a “Hotel Heroes” dinner to celebrate San Francisco hotel employees,” said Sam Singer, a spokesman for the Hotel Council of San Francisco. “It’s clear San Francisco hotels value their employees.” Hotel employees have been working without a contract since August 2009. Hotel operators are seeking to reach a contract agreement that addresses a 300 percent rise in employee healthcare costs in the last 10 years. The Hotel Council continues to urge Local 2 leaders to join hotels at the bargaining table to reach a contract negotiation before further tourist and convention business is lost. At least $5 million in convention business and $500,000 in city hotel taxes have been lost in recent months as a result of Local 2’s protest and intimidation activities. Employees have missed 5,000 work shifts due to union protests and pickets. “Mike Casey can no longer claim that his union isn’t hurting the city of San Francisco as a whole,” Mr. Singer said. “The union’s intransigence in these negotiations has caused employees to lose shifts and miss work, something no one can afford in this economy.” For more information, visit www.sfhotelnews.org. [...] For Immediate Release Media Contact Sam Singer (415) 227-9700 San Francisco Loses $5.5 Million in Tourist Business, City General Fund $540,000 Poorer due to Unite Here Local 2 Union Tactics Cut Worker Shifts, Canceled City Conventions San Francisco, California (March 17, 2010) – Protests at San Francisco hotels and harassment of event planners by Unite Here Local 2 led directly to the loss of $5.5 million in city convention business and $540,000 in hotel tax revenue for the city’s General Fund, according to newly released figures. The tax figure comes from data collected by city hotels from the last two months of 2009 and the first month of 2010. “More than half a million dollars – that’s what the City of San Francisco has lost in just three months as a result of events being moved out of San Francisco or canceled altogether,” said Sam Singer, a spokesman for the Hotel Council of San Francisco. “In a year of massive deficits and drastic budget cuts, the city cannot afford these kinds of tax losses.” Local 2 has been conducting a campaign of harassment for several months against conference and event planners, seeking to discourage them from booking at large San Francisco hotels. Union officials have even threatened board members of conferences and committees planning to hold events in San Francisco. The tactic has drawn a letter of reprimand from the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) of which Local 2 is a member. The CVB reports that four major events have moved out of the city altogether after their event planners were targeted by union officials who promised disruption if their groups stayed at the only hotels large enough to accommodate them. In addition to monetary losses, San Francisco hotel workers also have missed an estimated 5,000 work shifts as a result of reduced hotel business. “Clearly, hotel employees are unhappy about missing work shifts due to union protests,” Mr. Singer said. “And we know the protests themselves are unpopular with union members, judging from the piles of picket signs with no one available to carry them. Mike Casey should remember that less than one-third of his membership voted to authorize a strike against city hotels. His backwards strategy of discouraging hotel business and thereby reducing employee shifts and pay will only hurt his own members and our city as a whole. Local 2 needs to get back to the bargaining table to achieve a new contract before city finances and San Francisco’s tourism industry are further damaged.” For more information, visit www.sfhotelnews.org. [...] For Immediate Release Media Contact Sam Singer (415) 227-9700 SF Hospitality Industry, Grand Hyatt Guests Raise $3600 for Haiti “Support San Francisco Tourism” Event Draws From Full House to Help Haiti San Francisco, California (February 23, 2010) – Representatives of San Francisco’s hospitality industry and the Grand Hyatt Hotel have raised $3600 for relief funds for the people of Haiti, which was devastated by last month’s earthquake. The funds were raised following a reception and event at the Grand Hyatt last Friday, February 19. Contributions were made by members of the tourism industry, the Grand Hyatt San Francisco and its guests. The funds will be sent to the American Red Cross, which will use it for ongoing relief efforts in Haiti. More than 100 stakeholders and guests participated in the Support San Francisco Tourism and Help for Haiti gathering Friday, including:
“The San Francisco tourism industry creates thousands of jobs, provides millions of dollars in taxes and, as a whole, is one of the leading philanthropic contributors to the city,” said Sam Singer, a spokesman for the Hotel Council of San Francisco. “Its members work diligently to meet the economic challenges we all face. San Francisco’s hospitality industry, the Grand Hyatt and its guests were proud to do their part in providing much-needed funds for earthquake relief and assistance in Haiti.” A new website, sfhotelnews.org, has been launched for news and information about San Francisco tourism and the hospitality industry. Visit it for regular updates at www.sfhotelnews.org. [...] |
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