Hotel Employees on Strike - Bad News For Business

It's the news no hotelier wants to hear - union staffsafety, entirely another.
have voted to walk out. Not only do you have toIf your hotel business has union workers, chances are
find interim help that's willing to cross picket lines; youyou'll face a contract negotiation standstill at some
have to find guests who are also willing to do so.point. In many cases, misunderstandings and ill feelings
A work strike could cost your company more thancan be offset with a strong internal communications
just dollars. As with the case of the downtownprocess. For Sheraton workers, the issues were
Chicago Sheraton hotel locations facing such a strikebenefits cuts and job losses. While it's unknown how
the last week of October 2009, staffing shortageswell Sheraton's management handled each issue, it
could seriously impede your business as usual. In thestands to reason that an informed employee is a
case of the Sheraton unionized workers, over 1,000more content employee.
staffers were set to vote on whether to walk.Work with your hotel insurance broker to discuss the
Finding replacement help - adequate replacement helpprocesses of dealing with union workforces. In most
- is a crippling task. What's more, interim staff have acases, the hotel insurance broker will recommend a
higher risk associated with them. Because they're notrisk management assessment or consultation, which
familiar with your business model, there's a goodcould reduce significantly your exposure to
chance your guest relations ratings could suffer. Notstrike-related losses. Also, if your workforce is in
to mention the variables you can't control -danger of striking, check with your hotel insurance
temporary employee unreliability, theft, and thebroker to understand your coverage options and
chance that these employees weren't vettedadditional coverage requirements during any strike.
properly. Inefficient performance is one thing - guest