"Posh Greenbrier seeks bankruptcy" (ah the work force is unionized)

AP ^ | 3-19-2009 | Tim Huber

[Frantzie]

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The historic Greenbrier resort, which has gone from hosting presidents and royalty to posting losses, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday and unveiled a plan to sell itself to hotel giant Marriott International Inc. for up to $130 million.

[Frantzie]

"A spokesman for the Council of Labor Unions, which represents approximately 909 of the resort's 1,318 workers, did not immediately respond to a request for comment."

"The unions and the resort have been unable to reach a new collective bargaining agreement for more than a year."

"In a document included with the bankruptcy filing, Greenbrier Chief Financial Officer Michael McGovern blamed the labor disagreement for $25 million in lost revenue last year."

The Obama depression and unions seem to be killing a lot of jobs.

[BGHater]

It is a beautiful hotel. The bunkers are cool.

[wagglebee]

The Greenbrier has gone downhill in recent years, the Homestead is much nicer.

[mnehring]

I thought the federal government owned a stake in the Greenbrier as it was an evacuation point for government officials?

[Frantzie]

It was. They probably have something new so Pelosi can park her fleet of Gulfstream G-5s underground too.

I almost went to Greenbrier once because the golf course is nice. I will not go to a unionized hotel.

[Tenacious 1]

Is Marriot Union?

I bet the Union Offers consessions to the new owners, if so.

[Never on my watch]

I wonder how many business conventions planned for the Greenbrier were canceled because of the government's not-so veiled threats.

[Frantzie]

No unions but also no illegals working at hotels. Pay Americans something half way decent and they will fill the jobs.

[Frantzie]

I bet a lot. Las Vegas is reeling. It is really Obama and the Dems corruption with Frannie/Freddie that caused the nightmare.

[GonzoGOP]

So labor unions lawyers destroy what the Soviet Union’s missiles couldn’t. Thus ends the final chapter for the “Last Resort”.

[freespirited]

Things will turn around when Obama raises taxes on rich people.

/s

[Drango]

Thanks unions. /s

[buckalfa]

The Hotel has lost all business conventions due to the operational uncertainty surrounding the potential for a
strike by the union(s). The place is a beuatiful anachronism in the 21st century. Even new ownership without union contracts will have a hard time making a go of it.

[Dixie Yooper]

We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary at The Homestead 2 years ago. At the time it was much less expensive than the Greenbrier.

[Polybius]

It is a beautiful hotel. The bunkers are cool.

We stayed there once during the Reagan Administration but I believe that was before the existence of the bunkers was public knowledge. In any case, I don't remember knowing about them or seeing them.

The Greenbrier was used in World War II as an internment location for Japanese, German and Italian diplomats and their families and staffs stranded in the U.S. after the U.S. entered the war.

The luxury location was selected so that the Japanese, German and Italian Governments would treat American diplomats stranded in those countries equally well.

A Privileged Few Under War Time Conditions

This part of the link was amusing. :-)

"There were mandatory daily roll calls ordered by the FBI where Germans and Japanese were always on time, the Italians always late."

[Tenacious 1]

The hotel industry has a union. Is Marriot signatory? Is your comment about Marriot specifically or about hotels in general?

[mbarker12474]

Back in 1979 me and three high school buddies visited an older pal who was an apprentice pastry chef at the Greenbrier. When we got there, our graduated friend (who, by the way, was a homosexual) stuffed us in a closet and loaded us down with food swiped from the expensive buffet. Later we played a free round of golf on the expensive golf course by simply walking out and teeing it up. The apprentice chef dormatories, we learned, were filled with young homosexuals going into the food service industry. I recall a fella coming around checking us out, and our older pal told him to stay the heck away. I stayed with my aunt. My high school friends survived without incident on the floor of the dorm room. We had a blast.

[wagglebee]

I think the Homestead is much nicer.

[the_devils_advocate_666]

The resort has been seeking concessions from the unions because wages and benefits consume 70 percent of revenue, compared to an industry average of about 40 percent of revenue, McGovern said.

[MadelineZapeezda]

Most of these workers live in the small town surrounding it. There is nothing for miles, its so remote. These jobs were handed down for generations....at least that is what some of the workers told us when we stayed there last year.