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Word has it that our very democratic union has not treated the workers at the health centers very nicely. All health center employees were offered "buy-outs" in August of 2003. They are being laid-off but if they wish to work in the new Harlem Center they must reapply like any common person off the street and yet train new staff at the new Harlem Center for positions they were denied. These employees are members of Local 153/OPEIU.

Some other curious facts about work at the health centers: 1) Security temporary workers make $25 an hour and Union security workers make $20 an hour. 2) Temps take one hour for lunch, do not punch in or out for it and get paid for lunch, while Union security must punch in and out for lunch and do not get paid for it. 3) Temps work at their convenience; they pick the tours that are good for them. Union security must change their tours and locations to suit the temps, many times the day before, with no regard for the Union security personal or family life. 4) Temps stay at the front desk, doing very little patrolling, while Union security must patrol all the time. 5) Temps take vacations and days off at will, while Union security had vacation days cancelled to suit the temps. There are a few other disparities but these should suffice for now. It would seem that union workers WITHIN the union have less rights than Hotel Union workers. What's the story here? We would like the Union to respond to these allegations.

Hotel Employee Advocates for Real Democracy Newsletter Vol.1 Issue 2 Issue2 August 2003

"It is not the function of our Union to keep the membership from falling into error; it is the function of the membership to keep the Union from falling into error." – paraphrasing Robert H. Jackson

Our Union has been doing a commendable job as of late with the enforcement of our contract. Our weekly newspaper, the Hotel Voice, regularly features wins against management at various hotel shops. This is a good thing, and all Union members need to acknowledge these achievements.

The most urgent issue facing our Union today is its total lack of democracy and subsequent lack of accountability of the Union officers to the membership. Part of the preamble to the Local 6 By-Laws states: The democratic control of our union by its members since its founding has been one of its distinguishing marks. Perhaps that was true 20 years ago but is certainly is no longer the case today.

One of the most essential elements of any democratically run organization is access to information. How many of the members reading this newsletter know the answer to the following two questions: How many membership meetings is Local 6 required to have? How many delegates to the Local 6 Delegate Assembly can you name and what hotels do they hail from? As to the first question, none. As to the second question, not even the writer knows the answer, yet, the Delegate Assembly is the representative body of Local 6!

We believe that it is necessary to amend the By-Laws of Local 6 to help open up this very closed and undemocratic situation.

We believe the following two amendments to the Local 6 By-Laws can start us off on the right track.

Section 2a: Meetings of the general membership shall be held at least once a year. The Business Manager or proxy will address the membership and deliver a state of the Union. This meeting shall take place each January the date to be set by the Executive Board. Special meetings of the general membership may be held at the direction of the Executive Board on not less than seven days written notice, mailed to each member at his last known address.

Presently there is no provision or requirement for Local 6 to hold any membership meetings. This amendment would address this serious lapse. The meeting itself would provide the opportunity for members to meet other members from various shops and possibly exchange ideas.

Another amendment possibly even more important than the above relates to the Delegate Assembly.

Section 7. The votes cast by members of this Local shall be counted, and the results for each office shall be announced and published separately in the union newsletter—the Hotel Voice—or mailed directly to all members, and the results for delegates to the assembly shall also display their respective hotels and departments. The Secretary-Treasurer shall preserve for one year the ballots and all other records pertaining to the election.

According to Article IV Section 1d of the Local 6 By-Laws, the Delegate Assembly is the representative body of the membership of the Union. If this is the case, how is it that Local 6 members do not know who they are or how to reach them? This amendment would help address this issue.

Do you agree? If you agree that these amendments can help us democratize Local 6 please send an email to petition@heardny.org

In order to amend the By-Laws of Local 6 it is necessary to obtain the signatures of 1000 members in good standing. (Come to think of it, the way our By-Laws are amended need some changes too.) If you email H.E.A.R.D. at the above address we will send you two petition forms for Local 6 members to sign.

Yes the wheels of change revolve slowly. The reservations delegate at W New York discovered that not only were Whatever Whenever agents doing reservations work (see March news below) but that Sales Assistants were also inputting and making reservations and modifications--at all properties. [ For those who are unfamiliar with what happened to the Reservations Department at Starwood hotels in New York City see August news here.]

After accumulating the necessary statistics showing that 30% of the reservations input was being performed by conference and sales managers--Clearly, non-union employees.--, the Delegate informed the union, which promptly called a meeting between the Union and management. The meeting was attended by Local 153 Business Agent, Rebecca; NYMHTC Business Agent Oscar; the Customer Care representative, Robert; Brad, representing Starwood; and Human Resources Director Eric. Brad, the Area director of the hotels in question, argued that the Memorandum of Understanding, signed in June of 2002, permitted non-union employees to perform Reservations tasks and that this was premised on one line: Reservation related work previously preformed by non-union employees would continue at the company's discretion. The reservation delegate argued that reservations work was not the same as reservations related.

We went back and forth on this issue. The Union representative implied that an "emergency meeting" might be required at each of the properties, (Emergency meetings entail calling everyone off work to a meeting in the hotel lobby.) or arbitration.

After looking over the report provided by the Delegate that demonstrated that non-union employees were doing 30% of the input, Brad realized that it pointed to a major flaw in this new system they had developed. He therefore decided that he would look over the situation to come up with a solution to this very sticky situation.

The Delegate has no problem in searching for solutions to this quagmire. The delegate is comforted by the fact that if taken to arbitration the Union will win. If perchance the Union fails, the Customer Care Agents still will win because: reservations work previously performed by non-union employees would continue at the company's discretion, therefore, Customer Care Agents need NOT perform them. We shall not be sharing work with non-union employees, period! When we consider the wording of the revised agreement's terms: As to...the five (5) current Customer Care Reservation Agents...Starwood may not terminate the ... Agents from employment by layoffs or other economic reason.

The Union had to send representatives to a W property to make clear to management that WW agents and non-union personnel are prohibited from doing reservations work. Oscar, from Local 6, & Rebecca from Local 153, were the harbingers of bad tidings to management. Oscar told management that illegal job combinations were never part of the deal they signed in May of 2002.

It seems that the $8 agents along with their "Atari" like reservations system in Massachusetts are unable to handle the simplest reservations task. Since the management has in effect eliminated on-site reservations staff they have had to open up the reservations menu to everyone in the hotel to make reservations and changes that guests are demanding. This has certainly thrown a monkey wrench in management's machinations to install a computer in housekeeping so that room attendants could effect changes as well--just kidding.

The issue is far from settled, however. Management has deluded itself into believing that only one of their five W properties must adhere to the prohibition of illegal job combinations. Fortunately for us, nothing could be further from the truth. I cannot give the details why in this space but the truth will out soon.

As a member of the Sheraton Customer Care (formally reservation) . I was wondering why all these so called update negotiation between Starwood and the Union only seem to reflect on the W Hotels? Are we not of the same company? Shouldn't any update/amendment to the contract reflect all NYC Starwood reservation departments? Or is this something as a "side agreement" limited to certain properties?

My next question is? Has Starwood been able to convince the union that all these so called changes in reservation fall under "technological" which requires job modification at their will? First, It was to down size the departments and transfer all the calls to Fall River- which we know is ineffective. Second, to have certain Internet bookings such as Travelscape forward to Fall River to process, we have even been told that larger convention groups booked thru housing bureaus such as Travel Planners will be forwarded to Fall River. The Sheraton has even been selected as a test hotel to have certain FIT's accounts book their allotments online. The bottom line is we are evolving into more of a "complaint and fix" department. It seems that this whole situation has already been mapped out for us since the beginning of these Starwood and Union negotiations. It's a shame we as adults are left in the dark with no voice, while we can see the writing on the wall. [ Go to Forum for an answer to these questions.]

The union and Starwood have agreed to now decentralize the W Reservations agents. Implementation to be completed by February 12th

The Union has taken notice of the working conditions that the reservations department is working under based on the pictures from this website and has requested that Starwood correct the situation. The options available are: find a bigger office, breakdown a wall in the current office, or decentralize! We shall see.

Michael Simo and Peter Ward were able to forge a new agreement with Starwood Hotels and Resorts that restores the job security of the reservation agents at W New York. This is very good news indeed; however, it does not protect the jobs of the Sheraton employees or the future of reservations in New York City. On behalf of my unit I thank the New York Hotel & Motel Trades Council for making a major--albeit--incomplete correction.

I met with Mr. Michael Simo--President of Local 6 and Regional Director of the NY Hotel & Motel Trades Council--on Sept. 9 2002 over the revised wording of the Memorandum of Agreement. He is in agreement in principal that the agreement should be modified. Now it is up to Starwood and the lawyers to hash it out. Overall I had a good impression of Mr. Simo and he seems sincerely concerned. We shall see what time brings.