That's why Raynor's efforts to negotiate a new contract for hotel workers here, part of an effort to bolster union influence in large, corporate hotel chains, are being watched closely.
Raynor, 54, now serves as president of Unite Here. He graduated from Cornell and spent his life organizing companies, mostly in the South. He lives in Nyack, N.Y., with his wife and has five children.
Workers pack into the Masonic Temple for a meeting of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 25.
(Rich Lipski -- The Washington Post)
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_____Live Discussion_____
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Today, 12:30 p.m. ET John A. Boardman, executive secretary-treasurer of Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 25 Washington, will answer your questions.
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_____Background_____
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Union, D.C. Hotels Prepare For Strike (The Washington Post, Sep 17, 2004)
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Hotel Employees Authorize Strike In California Cities (The Washington Post, Sep 17, 2004)
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Hotels, Union End Talks, Prepare for Strike (The Washington Post, Sep 16, 2004)
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Hotel Talks Show Mixed Progress (The Washington Post, Sep 15, 2004)
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Workers at D.C. Hotels Vote to Authorize Strike (The Washington Post, Sep 14, 2004)
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List of D.C. Hotels Potentially Affected by Strike
From
Associated Press
at 4:31 PM
Here is a list of the 14 Washington, D.C., hotels that could be hit by a strike.
* Best Western Skyline, 10 I St., SW
* Capital Hilton, 16th and K Sts., NW
* Washington Hilton & Towers, 1919 Connecticut Ave., NW
* Hilton Washington Embassy Row, 2015 Massachusetts Ave., NW
* Holiday Inn Downtown, 1155 14th St., NW
* Holiday Inn on the Hill, 415 New Jersey Ave., NW
* Hotel Washington, 515 15th St., NW
* Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Ave., NW
* Loews L'Enfant Plaza, 480 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
* Marriott Wardman Park, 2600 Woodley Rd., NW
* Mayflower Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Ave., NW
* Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert St., NW
* The Jefferson Hotel, 1200 16th St., NW
* Westin Embassy Row, 2100 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Source: Unite Here Local 25
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Raynor has "a strange way of looking at things," said Bill Adams, a labor relations consultant for corporations. "He thinks if you get angry, you'll be successful. That shows how he runs things."
One focus of the local negotiations is a two-year contract, as opposed to the typical three-year contract. That's so it will expire at the same time as contracts in New York and other major cities.
"For the union and the workers to have representation with these chains, we can't negotiate Washington, D.C., as if you're dealing with a dozen locally owned hotels," Raynor said in a phone interview yesterday. "We think by the union contracts expiring the same year, these multinational companies will sit down to talk with us."
Seeking contracts with the same termination date is a practice that has been used for years, though it was more common decades ago, according to Ruth Milkman, director of the Institute of Industrial Relations at the University of California at Los Angeles. The rubber workers union, which covers workers for companies such as Firestone, has established the same termination date as well.
Unite Here has "mapped out the country, saying, 'Here's the employer, here is where they interlock. We have to get all these areas to the same standard and locked into the same deals. Then ultimately . . . we may be able to pull off a nationwide strike,' " Bruno said.
Before the two unions merged, Unite and Here created the New Unity Partnership, led by Raynor and John W. Wilhelm, president of Here. The group was designed to help unions work together to gain more power as corporate consolidation became the norm. It came about as workers and union leaders voiced concern that the AFL-CIO had not kept up with the transformations of the global workplace.
Unite and Here merged in July because "we recognize that corporations are getting bigger," Raynor said yesterday. The two unions have a history of representing immigrants and low-wage issues, and thought that together, they could form a stronger force. "Membership-wise, we're the same, and philosophically we're the same," Raynor said.
In addition, Unite suffered from losses due to globalization, and Here suffered greatly as a result of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. So merging meant greater financial resources.
"Here has history in recent years of dynamic organizing. Unite has a lot of financial resources which Here has not had," Milkman said. "So putting those together could be very powerful. We'll see how they do."
According to a filing with the Department of Labor, Unite has $177 million in net assets and owns and operates Amalgamated Bank in New York.
Local union officials said they have $1 million in dues and investments to help its 3,500 D.C. workers weather a long strike, if needed.
Staff writers Dana Hedgpeth and Neil Irwin and staff researcher Richard Drezen contributed to this report.
