Continuing to elevate its role in the meetings industry, hospitality workers union Unite Here made two key moves in June.
It created a subsidiary organization, the Informed Meetings Exchange (Inmex), to provide member meeting planners information about impending hotel boycotts, hotels' track record on labor relations and negotiability in group contracts.
Also, the union reached a contract agreement with hotel management in New York one of several key meetings destinations in which contracts expire this year before the old pact expired on June 30, leaving hotel labor watchers optimistic about upcoming negotiations elsewhere.
Regarding Inmex, Unite Here hospitality industries president John Wilhelm said, "Since the 2004 expiration of labor agreements in Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and again after boycotts because of these situations, we have talked to many groups that needed information to decide whether to move their meetings."
Inmex also will let its constituents know whether a hotel is likely to accept Unite Here's recommended meeting contract language, he said.
Membership in Inmex, and use of any services it provides, is free.
As of its June 28 launch, Inmex had 100 member organizations that collectively represented about $200 million in direct hotel spending.
Inmex is courting cities as potential members, too. So far it has one taker, San Jose, but representatives of Toronto, New York, San Mateo and Anaheim were at the launch event.
San Jose joined as part of a "need to look at the progressive way we can all work together," said Daniel Fenton, president and CEO of the San Jose Convention and Visitors Bureau.
In addition to labor-related information, Inmex will offer counsel on basic meeting planning, such as how much money the combined elements of a proposed audiovisual package will cost. This service will be provided by Sekeno Aldred, a Washington, D.C.-based planner who has been hired to work full-time for Inmex.
"Hotel contracts are often opaque and it can be tough to figure out the bottom line, especially for organizations that don't have skilled assistance," said Wilhelm.
Not surprisingly, though, not everyone in the industry sees the motivation behind Inmex as pure.
Lisa Sommer Devlin, an attorney who represents hotels, was not familiar with Inmex when contacted by MeetingNews but after viewing the group's website (www.inmex.org) she said, "Inmex appears to be simply an attempt by Unite Here to advance its agenda indirectly. The information on its site so far suggests that it will not be unbiased."
Said Wilhelm, "I believe the validity of Inmex will be proven in the marketplace. If it's valuable, it will flourish; if not, it will fail."
Marriott, Starwood and Hyatt declined to comment or did not return calls.
Hilton, Wilhelm said, "will be threatened by Inmex," because he claimed it "has extremely bad labor relations."
A Hilton spokeswoman called Unite Here's singling out of the company "part of their usual bombastic tactics during labor contract negotiations."
Joe McInerney, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, had a similar view of the entire Inmex effort. "The information being provided about things like where strikes or boycotts may soon arise can't be too objective if it's coming from Unite Here, as they're the ones creating these labor disruptions. This is just another way to harass hotels," he said.
McInerney added that some information on the Inmex site is inaccurate and that, to be on the safe side, meeting planners with questions on labor issues should also contact their hotels and visit www.ahla.com to get more information.
Meanwhile, the Hotel Association of New York City and Unite Here inked a six-year labor agreement for 126 hotels that went into effect on July 1. Two key meeting properties that are both operated by Hilton, the Hilton New York and the Waldorf=Astoria, are negotiating separate contracts but at press time were expected to sign labor agreements echoing the one agreed to by the hotel association.
The settlement could bode well for imminent talks in Hawaii, Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles and the unsettled disputes in San Francisco and Toronto.
"We favorably view the contract announcement and terms given the uneventful/quick negotiations, longer-than-expected six-year term and fair economic terms," said a report by equity research analysts at Bear Stearns.