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By Philip Marcelo
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Republican groups are calling for a boycott of the union-led boycott of the Westin Providence Hotel and denouncing the City Council's recent passage of an ordinance meant to protect hotel workers.
The state GOP and the Rhode Island Young Republicans say they will host two events at the downtown hotel Wednesday night: the RIGOP State Central Committee meeting and a "Young Republican Night Out at the Westin."
RIGOP Chairman Giovanni Cicione said in a news release that "hundreds" of state GOP members will be in attendance for the Central Committee meeting. When the meeting is adjourned, they will join the Young Republicans as they visit several restaurants and bars located throughout the hotel on their "night out" event.
"As usual, there's a whole other side to the story that nobody is hearing," Cicione said in the statement. "The Procaccianti Group is a world class employer. If Democrats continue to torture every local business with threats of strikes and boycotts, especially in the midst of this recession, Rhode Island will soon find itself with no employers left."
"We hope that the Westin employees come to understand that the policies initiated by Democrats and their labor bosses will ultimately result in the loss of their jobs. They are the same policies that have caused Rhode Island to have one of the highest unemployment rates in the country right now," said Travis Rowley, chairman of the RI Young Republicans.
Local 217 of Unite Here, the union representing about 200 hotel workers, called a boycott of the hotel on Mar. 17 after the hotel owner, the Procaccianti Group, imposed pay cuts, increases to healthcare co-pays, and added work loads for housekeepers.
The boycott has been supported by Brown University students, who moved a student-run gala from the hotel last month, among other groups and individuals. Netroots Nation, a national convention of progressive bloggers, is threatening to cancel plans to hold its 2011 convention in Providence because of the dispute.
The state GOP and the Rhode Island Young Republicans are also opposed to a city ordinance, proposed and passed recently by the City Council, that requires hotel employers to retain employees for at least six months after switching managers or subcontracting firms.
That ordinance is currently the focus of a federal lawsuit brought by the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority and the Rhode Island Hospitality Association.
"What's going on at the Westin right now and especially the ordinances being approved by the Providence City Council, are exactly the types of economic roadblocks that have brought Rhode Island to the brink of economic collapse. This is why Rhode Island ranks at the bottom of every business ranking in the country," Cicione said.
"The worst possible scenario for Rhode Island workers is for their jobs to disappear. We're trying to prevent that from happening. That's the message we're trying to get across," Rowley said.
