Oct 29, 2009 5:29 am US/Central
Workers Vote To Strike At 5 Downtown Hotels
Starwood Hotel Chain Plans To Cut Health Benefits
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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The Westin Hotel Michigan Avenue is one of five Chicago hotels for which workers have voted to go on strike.
CBS
It could get fairly chaotic for tourists and conventioneers to stay downtown, now that workers at five hotels have voted to strike.
Workers at the Westin Michigan Avenue, 909 N. Michigan Ave.; the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers, 301 E. North Water St.; the W Lakeshore, 644 N. Lake Shore Dr.; the W City Center, 172 W. Adams St.; and the Tremont Hotel, 100 E. Chestnut St., all voted to authorize the strike.
The hotels are all run by the Starwood chain, which wants to cut health insurance benefits for about half its workers.
A union spokesman says similar votes could occur at downtown Hyatt and Hilton hotels. Union contracts covering 6,000 workers at 31 hotels in downtown Chicago expired Aug. 31.
The vote does not necessarily mean that workers will strike. It authorizes the union's negotiating committee to call a strike if it is deemed necessary.
Union spokesman Jim Baker says guidelines proposed by Starwood would mean that approximately 50 percent of hotel workers would no longer be eligible for health insurance.
Starwood's chief negotiator, Jim Franczek, says hotels have been hard hit by the recession.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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