This greatly increases the chances of a labor dispute at the hotel.

�The National Labor Relations Board is prosecuting Marriott for alleged repeat violations of labor law in San Francisco. As a result, the employees are engaged in a disruptive labor dispute that includes weekly picketing and nonviolent civil disobedience rallies,� said Mike Cerbo, Secretary-Treasurer of HERE Local 14 in Denver. �The City of Denver deserves better.�

Cerbo also questioned why there was no public process to determine whether a $55 million subsidy for Marriott, a $9 billion company with an anti-union track record, is the best use of City resources. He noted that the City left the hotel off of the ballot and chose a type of subsidy that does not require public approval.

Cerbo said he believes that the City of Denver has chosen to fund the hotel with Certificates of Participation, or COP�s, in order to circumvent a public referendum that would be required for the issuance of bonds. �COP�s are debt in all but the most technical legal sense,� said Cerbo. �Financing this hotel with these instruments, which are backed by the city-owned convention center, is an exceptionally risky investment.�

Cerbo also questioned the amount of the subsidy. �$55 million is just the tip of the iceberg.  In addition to this massive subsidy on the front-end, Denver taxpayers will be subsidizing the low-wage jobs created at this hotel by having to pick up the tab for health care, housing, and other programs for the working poor,� he said. �Especially at a time of a low-income housing crunch, to subsidize a multi-billion dollar corporation to create poverty-level jobs is just plain wrong.�