Derek Seidman at Truthout reports that over the past several months, a battle has been unfolding at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Buffalo that pits two sides of the City against each other: Its love affair with developers, who City Leaders have turned to as post-industrial saviors, and its identity as a Union Town, filling up with Non-Union jobs in low-wage sectors like leisure and hospitality. Behind its “revival” narrative, Buffalo remains one of the Nation’s poorest cities. It is a Labor stronghold, but its hotels are almost entirely Non-Union, even as their Workers help undergird the City’s so-called revitalization. While developers enjoy big subsidies and tax payment schemes that benefit their own properties, Buffalo’s City budget faces a massive $60 million deficit. In many ways, the battle at the Hyatt is a proxy over whose interests will prevail in the new Buffalo: Wealthy developers who receive lush subsidies or Workers fighting for good Union jobs in industries like leisure and hospitality that prop up the City’s purported renaissance.

To Read This Labor News Report In Its Entirety, Go To: Buffalo Is a Union Town — But for Hotel Workers, Union-Busting Runs Rampant | Truthout

WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Several Unions and Community Allies rallied in front of the Hyatt Hotel recently to call attention to their efforts to Unionize the workforce inside the Downtown Buffalo Hotel.  (Photo Courtesy Of Painters District Council 4 Organizer Joe Guza Via Facebook)