Latest news with #laborpeace
Washington Post
21 hours ago
- Business
- Washington Post
NHL, NHLPA close to agreeing on a new collective bargaining agreement, AP sources say
The NHL and NHL Players' Association are close to an agreement on an extension of the collective bargaining agreement, two people familiar with negotiations told The Associated Press on Thursday. The people spoke to the AP on condition on anonymity because the deal had not yet been finalized. The league and union have been in talks since April and are on the verge of a memorandum of understanding done more than a year before the current CBA expires. The extension would provide extended labor peace in the sport that has had multiple work stoppages, including the 2004-05 lockout that wiped out an entire season, over the past three decades.
Washington Post
6 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Montgomery officials pressure Marriott over conference center labor agreement
Montgomery County officials are working to pressure the Marriott hotel chain into signing an agreement promising not to retaliate against workers at a county conference center if they choose to unionize — a step taken after the county neglected to include that provision in an operating agreement signed in March. Marriott officials have so far resisted those efforts, despite threats of a boycott on Monday and county legislation introduced earlier this week that would require such commitments in certain contracts with hotel companies as a condition for the county's economic support in the future. The 10-year agreement — an extension of a previous contract that states that the county will continue to own the Montgomery County Conference Center in Bethesda while Marriott will continue to operate the facility — did not include a labor peace agreement that protects workers from retaliation if they try to unionize but choose not to strike or picket, according to County Council member Natali Fani-González (D-District 6), who chairs the Economic Development Committee. Although federal law already prohibits employers from retaliation, labor peace agreements are a more explicit protection for workers. And, with the Trump administration gutting the National Labor Relations Board, which adjudicates labor disputes, they are the most concrete way to force employers to comply with those federal worker protections, said Adam Yalowitz, a research director with Unite Here Local 25, a hospitality union in the D.C. region. The Montgomery County Conference Center employs about 140 people, according to a Marriott spokesperson. It's also a venue frequently used by local lawmakers and political groups for events. The lack of a labor peace agreement under the existing agreement appears to have been the result of some miscommunication. Local 25 reached out to County Executive Marc Elrich (D) last fall and spoke to him and his staff about the upcoming contract and the possibility of including a labor peace agreement, Yalowitz said. Elrich said he discussed the issue with his staff and that they told him there was no legal mechanism to require the agreement. He was under the impression that someone on the council was working on legislation to rectify that, Elrich said, but never heard about any progress on it and that time was running out to get the contract signed. 'I probably should have just followed up after a while when I didn't hear anything, asked the council president if she knew anybody who was working on a bill,' Elrich said. 'All I knew was somebody said a bill is coming over and it just never got there.' Council President Kate Stewart (D-District 4) said she wasn't aware of any such legislation in the works before the contract being signed. Elrich acknowledged that he could have introduced a bill to the council himself, through the council president. But, he said, he chose not to, believing someone on the council was planning to do it and not wanting to appear as though he was 'trying to take credit for something they were trying to do.' 'Both of us probably could have been more proactive about figuring out who was doing what,' Elrich said of the council members and himself. Fani-González said the council members were not kept informed about the negotiations with Marriott. She didn't learn of the lack of a labor peace agreement until after the contract was signed, she said, when Local 25 approached her asking for help. Fani-González soon approached Marriott about adding an addendum to the contract to include the agreement, she said, and began drafting legislation to prevent this from happening in the future. The bill, which she co-led alongside Stewart and council member Sidney Katz (D-District 3), would require labor peace agreements in certain contracts between the county and hotel companies as a condition for the county's economic support. Similar laws exist in nearby jurisdictions including D.C. and Baltimore, Fani-González said. The three members introduced the bill to their colleagues Tuesday, receiving support from several other council members. Fani-González said that, once she learned of the issue, drafting the bill was a no-brainer. 'I'm in a position where I should use every single tool up there for workers to feel they are protected and respected and I think that's part of having a strong workforce in Montgomery County, feeling that you live in a place that values your labor,' she said in an interview. Yalowitz said Local 25, which would represent the conference center workers if they were to unionize, isn't aware of any organizing efforts among the conference center workers happening now. But this kind of agreement would probably make them feel safer doing so in the future, especially in an environment with such weak oversight of federal labor laws, he said. 'We think employers are feeling more emboldened to run aggressive union-busting campaigns and that, unfortunately, leads to more attacks on worker rights and more anti-union campaigns and intimidation tactics,' Yalowitz said. The union launched a boycott of the convention center in late May to apply further pressure on Marriott but later delayed it until Monday in hopes the pause would motivate the company to start discussing a labor peace agreement, Yalowitz said. More than 20 state lawmakers representing parts of Montgomery County have signed a letter agreeing to abide by the boycott. 'We believe every worker deserves a fair process to decide on unionization, free from intimidation and coercion,' the letter read. 'It is our hope that Marriott will engage in good faith and commit to a fair and transparent process that upholds workers' rights and dignity.' Marriott hasn't indicated any plans to add an addendum, according to Elrich and Fani-González, both of whom said they've been in discussion with the company. In a statement, a company spokesperson said that Marriott believes the workers are sufficiently covered under the existing contract's terms. 'The recent 10-year extension agreement with the County includes explicit language requiring us to abide by long-standing laws governing the formation of unions,' the statement said. 'If our associates choose to explore union representation, there is a federally governed process that ensures their right to make that decision freely, with complete information and a secret ballot vote.' Elrich said that, in an effort to protect the workers, the contract included a provision reiterating that the company must follow the National Labor Relations Act. It also opened the possibility of the county helping to absorb any loss of revenue caused by a labor agreement with conference center staff, said Ken Hartman-Espada, an assistant chief administrative officer for Elrich, who led the county in the negotiation. 'We got to the best language for both parties at the time,' Hartman-Espada said. Elrich said he's surprised to see Marriott seeming so unwilling to agree to a labor peace agreement given the economic consequences of a strike or boycott. 'If they have to go to boycotting, Marriott's going to lose business,' Elrich said. 'You're not going to lose any business signing a labor peace agreement.' He and Marriott representatives are planning to meet soon to continue these discussions, he said. 'It's more complicated than I thought,' Elrich said.
