AH&LA Releases New Meeting Planner Brochure; Guide Developed to Help Meeting Planners as They Work with Hotels During Labor Negotiations.

WASHINGTON -- The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) has created a new brochure, "Meeting in the Middle: A Quick Primer for Meeting Planners on Negotiating Convention and Event Contracts." The brochure gives meeting planners an overview of important topics and legal issues in meeting contracts that may arise during labor negotiations this year between many hotels and UNITE HERE, the labor union representing hotel employees.

"The hotel industry values its partnership with meeting planners and wants to keep them informed about any issues that may affect them or their clients during labor negotiations," said AH&LA President/CEO Joe McInerney, CHA. "It's important that meeting planners have all the facts and hear both sides of the story. We believe this new brochure will serve as a valuable resource to help secure fair meeting contracts and plan successful events in hotels."

Earlier this year, UNITE HERE launched an aggressive pressure campaign on the lodging industry. As part of that campaign, UNITE HERE disseminated a "Meeting Planner Resource Manual" that urges meeting planners to cancel or withhold business, includes false or misleading statements in regard to meeting planners' legal rights, and fails to fully address the legal status of contract terminations due to strikes or labor disputes.

AH&LA's brochure provides practical information for the meeting planner community, including specific dos and don'ts on contractual matters such as Force Majeure, cancellations, attrition, cancellations, and damages. The new AH&LA brochure also corrects some false impressions that meeting planners might get from UNITE HERE's manual.

McInerney reiterated that hotels will negotiate in good faith during the upcoming contract talks and stressed that hotels remain committed to the same great level of service during negotiations that meeting planners and clients have come to expect from them. "AH&LA firmly believes that new labor agreements can be reached to continue to provide hotel employees with the job security and benefits they need to maintain a good quality of life and also allows hotels to be competitive and deliver quality service at a reasonable price to our guests," McInerney said. "But no matter what, hotels will remain open and will do everything they can to make sure all events are well executed and that there is little or no impact on any guest's stay."

"Meeting in the Middle: A Quick Primer for Meeting Planners on Negotiating Convention and Event Contracts" is available on AH&LA's new Web site, ahla.com/labor. The Web site provides additional resources for meeting planners and timely information about the ongoing contract negotiations. An extended version of the brochure can also be found on the site.

AH&LA is a 96-year-old association of lodging properties and companies throughout the United States. Members are represented by AH&LA at the national level as well as by our partner state associations. With some 10,000 members in the United States and internationally, AH&LA represents more than 1.3 million guest rooms.