Less than a year after completing $50 million in renovations that it hoped would restore its status as one of the world's top resorts, the famed Greenbrier in West Virginia is losing "significant revenue" due to the looming threat of a union walkout.
With a strike possible at any time, the resort has been notifying customers with meetings and conventions scheduled over the next 90 days that there is a potential for work stoppages.
The information has prompted even some of the Greenbrier's biggest and most loyal customers to cancel their usual spring and summer meetings in favor of alternative destinations, said resort spokeswoman Lynn Swan. Among those that canceled was the Washington-based Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, which typically holds two meetings a year at the Greenbrier, Swan said. But she said the resort did not want the customers blindsided in the event of a strike.
"We appreciate their business and want to keep them as longtime clients," she said.
But the cancellation pinch is being felt at the resort and by businesses in the West Virginia county of White Sulphur Springs, which relies on the resort as a key economic driver. A report in the Register-Herald of Beckley, W.Va., said the hotel was already down about $9 million in revenue. Swan said she did not know the exact amount of losses, "but I do know it's a significant amount."
The labor dispute began in January, when workers voted to authorize a strike. At that time, they agreed to work through the end of February. But they are currently working without a contract and could walk out at any time.
Harold Bock, spokesman for the nine unions representing 1,500 Greenbrier workers, said the hotel and unions had been negotiating since January, and their next meeting was scheduled for April 17.
At issue are health insurance benefits, vacations and holidays, said Bock.
"Our biggest problem is what they are trying to take away," Bock said. "It's not our outlandish demands. They are trying to take away benefits, and that's the problem."
Swan said the negotiations had been professional and that progress had been made.
"But obviously, we have not reached agreement," she said.
To contact reporter Jeri Clausing, send e-mail to [email protected].