April Fool's Could Bring Cruel Joke to Boston
mimegasite.com, 3/27/2007
An astounding 97 percent of UNITE HERE members in Boston — where negotiations between the hospitality workers union and the management of four Starwood properties are ongoing — voted in favor of authorizing a strike or boycott of those hotels anytime after March 31.
Union members, of which there are 1400 at the Beantown hotels, have been working without a contract since late last year at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, Boston Park Plaza Hotel and Westin Boston Waterfront. The labor agreement at the Westin Copley Place is set to expire on April 1.
A total of 50 union members sit on the negotiating committee. The vote gives those members the power to declare a boycott or strike should negotiations reach a standstill.