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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 2017)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | August 18, 2017 | PAGE 19 New Convention Center hotel will be union built And hopefully union operated, as Hyatt signs a neutrality agree- ment with UNITE HERE Local 8 The new Oregon Convention Center hotel will be union built and, hopefully, union operated. A ceremonial groundbreak- ing Aug. 4 marked the begin- ning of construction of the Hyatt Regency Portland, a $244 mil- lion, 600-room hotel that is scheduled to open in winter of 2019. The new hotel will be lo- cated on the northwest corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Holladay Street, adjacent to the Convention Center in North- east Portland. Hyatt is teaming with Mortenson Development Inc. and Schlesinger Cos. to build the hotel. The project also re- ceived $14 million in local and state government grants. Room taxes generated at the hotel are expected to contribute another $60 million toward the project. Mortenson Construction is a union general contractor. The company has signed a project “statement of principles” signed by Metro, the City of Portland, and Multnomah County assur- ing that the developer will uti- lize union building tradesmen and women on the project. The project also will work to help minorities and women looking to enter the trades, as well as to improve access to both minority- and woman- owned contractors. Mortenson Vice President Tom Lander recognized organ- ized labor for their partnership in bringing the convention cen- ter hotel to fruition. He gave a shout-out to the Oregon AFL- CIO, Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council, and UNITE HERE. “We will have 150 people on an average basis of construction workers on this site every day,” Landers said at the ground- breaking ceremony, which drew nearly 200 people. “Before the project is done, there will have been more than 2,000 trades people working on this project. I think that is just brilliant.” Lander said UNITE HERE was at all of the early meetings, “because they value the 950 full-time hospitality jobs that this project represents.” Hyatt signed a landmark neu- trality agreement with UNITE HERE Local 8, which means the hotel likely will be staffed with union workers. The hotel is expected to support “950 per- manent hotel- hospitality- and tourism-related jobs.” • Lynn McDonald, President Under the agreement, UNITE HERE organizers can meet with workers at the hotel and hold meetings there; managers can attend and make it clear that the company has no objection to workers exercising their right to unionize. Workers will be free to join a labor organization of their choosing, and can do so through a “card check” process or through a government-adminis- tered election. If workers choose to unionize, but don’t reach agreement with management within six months over the • Steve Purdy, Secretary Treasurer Hope You Enjoy a Great Weekend ... Happy Labor Day! terms of a first union contract, the contract proposals will be submitted to binding arbitration, under the labor peace agree- ment. “Hyatt’s willingness to work with UNITE HERE to make this a union hotel was a remark- able stretch for them, but one that they accepted with gra- ciousness — and actually ex- tended it to their entire system. So we hope this will be the first unionized Hyatt, and it looks like it will be,” said Metro Pres- ident Tom Hughes at the groundbreaking ceremony. Karis Stoudamire-Phillips, chair of the Metropolitan Expo- sition and Recreation Commis- sion, which operates the Oregon Convention Center, said the project will help local commu- nity members through Metro’s First Opportunity Target Area program, which has, for 28 years, sought to improve access to convention center jobs for historically disadvantaged com- munity members. “With this project, MERC, Metro, Hyatt, and Mortenson have made a strong commit- ment to communities of color, women, and other communities that are often vulnerable to dis- placement with economic growth,” Stoudamire-Phillips said. “I want to thank Hyatt for their firmly stated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in their hiring practices when they begin to staff the new hotel. Hyatt has committed to working with over a dozen local commu- nity groups to ensure there is a diverse hiring pool and the hotel staff can reflect the ever-chang- ing face of Portland.” At a reception following the groundbreaking ceremony, Multnomah County Commis- sioner Loretta Smith highlighted the importance of apprentice- ship training and “the world- class training centers” operated locally by Sheet Metal Workers, Electricians, Plumbers and Fit- ters, Operating Engineers, and others. “Whether it’s young people just entering the workforce or mid-career individuals looking for a change, the building trades’ apprenticeship programs provide workers the chance to earn while they learn,” Smith said. “The continued creation and support of middle-class job opportunities means this project will grow a worker class that will be able to afford to live where they work.” Most of the apprenticeship training programs are accepting applications for new apprentices. The Hyatt Regency Portland will be 14 stories, and will in- clude 32,000 square feet of meeting venues, a lobby, bar, restaurant, gym and gathering areas. Hyatt has agreed to hold 500 of the hotel’s 600 rooms for large conventions that Travel Portland hopes to recruit to Ore- gon. Hughes said once the hotel opens, the Oregon Convention Center will generate “upwards of $1 billion of additional rev- enue for the region each year.” Separate from the hotel proj- ect, Prosper Portland (formerly the Portland Development Com- mission) will construct and own a 442-space parking garage on the property. The $32.2 million project will break ground this winter, with completion sched- uled for spring of 2019.
