Friday, September 29, 2006

Denver gets a union hotel - update

WE'VE MOVED! Democratic Convention Watch is now at http://www.DemocraticConventionWatch.com

Great news for Denver's bid for the 2008 Democratic Convention: A key hotel, the Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center, is being unionized:

Workers at the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center have formed a union, organizers reported today. The city-bonded Hyatt has been the focus of union and political attention since organized labor voted earlier this year to oppose Denver's bid for the 2008 Democratic National Convention unless the hotel was unionized.

Labor groups have formally pulled their opposition to Denver's bid, but today's announcement only bolsters the city's bid for the convention. Katie Gerken, the spokeswoman for Unite Here which led the effort to organize the hotel, said the Hyatt formally recognized the new union this morning.

Not only is this a big plus for Denver's bid, the convention bid may very well have helped this to happen.

Update: Oh, and by the way, this is not just any hotel, this is the Convention Headquarters Hotel. From DemNotes:
This is obviously HUGE news for the bid to bring the Democratic National Convention to Denver in 2008. From the DNC’s perspective, the biggest problem with Denver has always been the lack of a unionized hotel. The Hyatt Regency has always been proposed to be the Convention headquarters hotel if the Convention comes to Denver. This news means that the Convention headquarters hotel will, in fact, be a union hotel. We are now one more step closer to bringing the Nation to Denver in August of 2008!