Tourism world breathes a sigh of relief as hotels, workers OK pact.

Mauled by the recession and still reeling from body blows from the riots and recent earthquakes, the tourism industry got a small reprieve last week as the embattled labor contract negotiations were settled.

Members of the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Union Local 11, at odds with the Hotel Employers Council over wage increases, health benefits and job security, have been without a new contract since April 15.

But, the recent hubbub over a union video depicting poor working conditions in the city may have quickened the pace toward resolving stalled talks on a contract, which encompasses about 5,000 hotel workers in downtown Los Angeles and Beverly Hills.

"I don't think it was a coincidence that one week after the national media discovered the video, we arrived at a mutually agreeable settlement," said Matthew Walker, spokesman for Local 11. The union had sent copies of the video to conference organizers nationwide, pressing them to keep their meetings away from L.A.

Of prime importance to the union, the six-year pact includes protection of employer-paid medical benefits. In earlier negotiations, the Hotel Employers Council proposed a benefit package which would have required partial co-payments by workers.

Nixed by the union, this idea was dropped and both parties agreed that the hotels would pay $1.53 per worker per hour to fund health coverage now. This would double by 1997 to $3.08.

Also, union workers will be guaranteed wage increases over the life of the contract, after a wage freeze for the first year. During the life of the contract, which spans from April 16, 1992 to April 15, 1998, wages will rise by $1.65 per hour for non-tipped workers and 55 cents per hour for tipped workers.

The union's Walker confirmed that payments toward health benefits would be made retroactively from April 16.

While generally satisfied with the pact, Walker said the job security clause lacks in certain areas. "At this point, the job security language is excellent with respect to closing down for renovations. . . . The contract does not specify the same rights in terms of a sale," he said.

Irv Baldwin, executive director of the Hotel & Restaurant Employers Council and negotiator for the industry, dubbed the contract a "win-win situation" and shifted focus away from past industry-union differences and toward a rejuvenated effort to boost tourism, which is the second largest industry locally.

"I don't want a good guy/bad guy focus," he said. "The union and I are on the same side of the fence."

For Baldwin, the contract brings relief in that "we know what our labor costs will be for the next six years." Mainly, though, he pointed to a renewed effort by the hotel industry to reach out to conventioneers and prospective tourists because "L.A. has a problem in getting its act back together again."

At the L.A. Convention and Visitors Bureau, "we couldn't be more delighted" about the settlement, said Michael Collins, vice president for public affairs. "In the long view, it's terribly important for (convention) planning purposes," he said. Good relations between the groups will definitely have positive repercussions on tourism, Collins said.

One aspect of the recent video incident included officials from the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Broadcasters saying they may reconsider staging their convention in L.A. after they received the union-produced ideo "City on the Edge." But last week Collins said the broadcasters will probably "find themselves sticking to Los Angeles." After all, "this is the largest broadcasting community in the world."

Mailed out to convention and meeting planners across the country, "the video concerning problems of L.A. will not be reissued," said the Employer Council's Baldwin.

The union, which held the video expressed the message that the tourism industry will not improve until worker conditions improve, may still promote the video.

"I think there are still a number of hotel employers in the city to whom that message still applies," said Walker. He pointed to non-council hotels such as the Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Beverly Pavilion and Beverly Rodeo hotels.

The contract settlement, according to the union, is just the first step of a larger plan. Local 11 now plans to encourage those non-council hotels to adopt a similar contract or become part of the council, and to intensify efforts to organize non-union tourism workers in the city.

"Let's be positive," Baldwin said. "L.A. has so many problems. . . . This is one of the ones we're putting to bed."