Austin Hotel & Lodging Association

Home

News

TH&LA Leglislative Affairs Alert: Federal Pro-Union bill filed- immediate action needed

March 11, 2009

Dear TH&LA Members,

Yesterday our national association, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), sent an alert informing all of our members that two pro-union, Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) bills were filed in the U.S. House of Representatives and in the U.S. Senate (HR 1409 and S 560). As you recall, the EFCA, also known as card check would make it much easier for union organizers to form unions at commercial businesses, including hotels. These bills would remove the right of employees to have a private ballot election on whether they want their workplace to become unionized. An election could only be called if the union organizers request one. The private ballot election, which unions want to eliminate, allow employees to vote in private on whether they want a union after both the employer and the union have an opportunity to present their positions. When employees hear both sides of this issue and are able to vote privately, they usually choose not to unionize. Furthermore, the card check legislation contains a provision that mandates compulsory, binding arbitration on the employer and the employees as part of the collective bargaining process. This would result in a third party - a government official - making labor contract decisions that are binding upon both parties. This would deny business owners sufficient control over their own business.If passed, the EFCA would have an extremely adverse effect on the Texas lodging industry by leading to more unionization and increased labor costs. TH&LA and its national association, AH&LA are partnering with the National Association of Businesses and Chambers of Commerce, the National Manufacturers Association and over five hundred other trade associations and major industries to oppose the EFCAs passage. It is our number one federal legislative priority.

To counter the EFCA, TH&LA is working this issue on two fronts.First, we are partnering with our national association, AH&LA, to coordinate advocacy and alerts on this bill and opportunities for our members to communicate their strong opposition. We are attaching sample letters that you can use immediately to communicate to our two U.S. Senators and to your specific U.S. House Representative. You may also visithttp://www.texaslodging.com/ membersonly/login.asp?File=toc, and log-in with the following credentials to download both the Letter to the House and the Letter of the Senate under 2009 Employee Free Choice Act Sample Letters :Username: thmaPassword: lodgingTo determine the identity and contact information of your federal elected official, enter your business property address at the following link: http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us. If you prefer, you can enter your home address and write to the federal officials for whom you are a personal constituent. Please also follow up with a phone call to your Senator and Representative using the contact information provided in the above links. We anticipate that our national association will also provide sample letters that all of our members can use. Please feel free to use any version of these letters. Or better yet, adapt the letters to tell your own story.Second, TH&LA is working with our national hotel association on a video in both English and Spanish that hotels can present to all of their rank-and-file employees as part of regular employee training/orientation. The video will note that hotel employees are likely to be approached in the future by union organizers at their home, work, church, or in social settings and will likely face pressure to sign a union authorization card. The video covers why an employee may not want to sign a union authorization card, and its potential negative impact on his/her take-home pay, ability to deal directly with their employer, impact if there is a strike, and other ramifications of being part of a unionized property. In a nutshell, the video will provide the other side of the coin on unionization and inform and empower employees to say No to union pressure and misinformation when approached to sign union authorization cards. This video should be available within the next 45 days.

Please watch closely for and respond to future alerts and calls to action on this vital national legislative issue and know that it is our top federal legislative priority. We will need the strong advocacy of all of our members throughout the state and our partner local lodging associations to ensure that the opposition of our industry is heard to derail this federal legislation.

Scott JoslovePresident & CEO This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it