Unite Here launched a new organization that provides information to meeting planners on union-friendly hotels, labor disputes, and other issues that could impact site selection decisions.
The organization, the Informed Meetings Exchange (INMEX), has more than 100 subscribers representing $200 million in annual hotel expenditures, according to a press release issued June 28 by Unite Here, the union that represents hotel workers. Most of the subscribers are from associations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, National Council of La Raza, and the Organization of American Historians.
Subscribers could use the service to make decisions on where they spend their convention and meeting dollars based on the INMEX research, which includes detailed information on the relationship that hotels and their chains have with labor, said John Stephens, executive director of the American Studies Association and board chair of INMEX.
“We want to insure that our money is spent in a way that is consistent with our organizational values and priorities,” said Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP in a news release. “By giving us concrete information on potential labor disputes, strikes, boycotts, or upcoming contract negotiations, our organizations are kept in the loop,” he added. This year, hotel worker contracts are up in six major cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston.
For more information, go to the INMEX web site.