By Adam Pagnucco.
As I reported earlier, UNITE HERE Local 25 – which represents hotel, restaurant and casino employees in the Washington region – has launched a boycott of the Montgomery County Conference Center, which is owned by the county but operated by Marriott. Council Members Natali Fani-Gonzalez, Evan Glass, Dawn Luedtke and Laurie-Anne Sayles have expressed support for the union but the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC), which holds events at the center, has stated that withdrawing from its contract would incur a substantial penalty. Now a group of state legislators has written Marriott in support of the union.
The boycott is important because the conference center hosts many well-attended events including the annual Committee for Montgomery breakfast. If you’re a MoCo power broker, you have been to this venue. The county’s ownership also makes the dispute politically sensitive.
The state legislators’ letter to Marriott is reprinted below.
*****
David Child, General Manager
Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center
5701 Marinelli Rd
Rockville, MD 20852
CC: Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, Montgomery County Council
Dear Mr. Child,
As State Legislators representing Montgomery County, we regularly attend events and meetings at the Montgomery County Conference Center. We are aware of the ongoing boycott of the conference center, initiated by UNITE HERE Local 25, and we share in the concerns over the lack of a union contract for the servers and other food and beverage staff at the site.
We believe every worker deserves a fair process to decide on unionization, free from intimidation and coercion. It is our hope that Marriott will engage in good faith and commit to a fair and transparent process that upholds workers’ rights and dignity.
Out of respect for the workers and in solidarity with their right to unionize, we are publicly committing to honor the boycott and will refrain from attending events at the Montgomery County Conference Center until the boycott is lifted and a fair process is agreed upon.
We will also be notifying organizers of events scheduled at the Conference Center of our collective commitment to respect the boycott, and will strongly encourage them to reconsider their event locations until Marriott reaches a fair agreement and the boycott is resolved.
In solidarity,
Delegate Joe Vogel
Delegate Lorig Charkoudian
Senator Cheryl Kagan
Senator Ben Kramer
Senator Sara Love
Senator Jeff Waldstreicher
Delegate Gabe Acevero
Delegate David Fraser Hidalgo
Delegate Linda Foley
Delegate Aaron Kaufman
Delegate Marc Korman
Delegate Bernice Mireku-North
Delegate David Moon
Delegate Julie Palakovich-Carr
Delegate Emily Shetty
Delegate Jared Solomon
Delegate Vaughn Stewart
Delegate Ryan Spiegel
Delegate Greg Wims
Delegate Sarah Wolek
Delegate Teresa Woorman
Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins
Senator Will Smith
Delegate Charlotte Crutchfield
Delegate Bonnie Cullison
