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.