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- OBJECTIVE
- Congress Hotel in Chicago must readopt the UNITE HERE! bargaining agreement
- TERMS
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If we reach exactly 5,000 people, then we will patronize a different hotel
- JOIN NOW
- You only act if we reach 5,000 people!
- put this campaign on your site
- THE PITCH
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The 114-year-old Congress Plaza Hotel is one of Chicago’s great downtown venues. In 2003, the hotel cut wages and benefits, and employees have waged a strike that has lasted more than four years.
A Congress employee makes only $8.83 an hour, more than $4 below the city standard. Until 2002, the hotel subscribed to the citywide contract with UNITE HERE! Local 1 that today gives employees $13.20 an hour. But Congress broke away from that pact and has kept the wages at $8.83. By 2009, this disparity will put Congress employees 37% behind those at hotels which have stayed with the UNITE HERE! bargaining unit. Other sacrifices have included crucial health care benefits for these working families. More details are available at the Congress Hotel Strike link below. (At that site are many pictures and stories of the brave and loyal workers who have been striking since 2003.)
Two people will pay around $200 a night for their 600+ standard r Read More
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Recent Discussion
The 114-year-old Congress Plaza Hotel is one of Chicago’s great downtown venues. In 2003, the hotel cut wages and benefits, and employees have waged a strike that has lasted more than four years.
A Congress employee makes only $8.83 an hour, more than $4 below the city standard. Until 2002, the hotel subscribed to the citywide contract with UNITE HERE! Local 1 that today gives employees $13.20 an hour. But Congress broke away from that pact and has kept the wages at $8.83. By 2009, this disparity will put Congress employees 37% behind those at hotels which have stayed with the UNITE HERE! bargaining unit. Other sacrifices have included crucial health care benefits for these working families. More details are available at the Congress Hotel Strike link below. (At that site are many pictures and stories of the brave and loyal workers who have been striking since 2003.)
Two people will pay around $200 a night for their 600+ standard rooms, and up to $700 a night for their special suites. Surely the Congress can afford to pay their staff the best possible salary. Majority stakeholder Albert Nasser reportedly has overseas manufacturing plants in other industries with poor conditions for workers there.
The hotel’s administration refuses to negotiate and refuses to rejoin the UNITE HERE! affiliate, in which most other downtown hotels participate. We are looking for 5,000 customers of the hotel to join together and commit, all at once, to stop patronizing the hotel and begin staying at any of the numerous neighboring hotels, when they reach 5,000 strong. Other quality hotels nearby include the Hyatt, the Hilton, and the Palmer House, among many others.
The Congress will not allow this campaign to reach its tipping point, because to do so would be economically untenable to them. When they see the number rise, they will begin to understand how important it is to their patrons that they treat the staff with the utmost consideration. We wouldn’t have it any other way. If you are a Congress Hotel patron, please take a moment to join our campaign.
This campaign is for Congress Hotel patrons only.
Links:
Congress Hotel Strike Information
Congress Hotel web site
2006 Tribune article regarding the impasse
2003 InTheseTimes article by David Moberg
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