Trump hotel in Chicago may be picketed by Unite Here

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-wed_trumpjan30,0,4824514.story

By Stephen Franklin | Tribune reporter
January 30, 2008

Trump International Hotel & Tower plans on opening Wednesday, and the hotel workers' union is likely to soon show up, but not by invitation.

Officials of Local 1 of UNITE HERE say they are considering picketing the Chicago luxury hotel to express their frustration over the failure to reach a deal with the Trump Organization.

Annemarie Strassel, a Local 1 spokeswoman, said talks with hotel officials broke off several months ago when the officials balked at including food and beverage workers in the potential bargaining unit. The local could not allow them to be excluded, she said, because these workers "are the heart and soul of Local 1."

Trump officials in New York said only Donald J. Trump could speak on the issue but he was not available. Trump officials in Chicago could not be reached.

About 300 workers are expected to staff the hotel, which occupies five floors of the 92-story tower at Wabash Avenue and the Chicago River, the union said. "All we are asking for is a fair process so that those workers can decide whether they will have a union or not," Strassel said.

FULL story at link.