UNITE HERE 74 on standby as Midas Hospitality heads back for more tax abatements

By TIM ROWDEN
Editor-in-Chief

St. Louis – Maryland Heights-based Midas Hospitality is heading back to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen for more tax abatements for its $46 million plan to turn the run-down Oyo Hotel on South 14th Street near the Enterprise Center into an upscale Sheraton.

The St. Louis Housing, Urban Development and Zoning (HUDZ) board voted Jan. 17 to advance a tax subsidy supporting the remodeling of the struggling Oyo, despite lingering concerns by UNITE HERE Local 74 about the developer’s position on union Labor and workers organizing.

Local 74 Vice President Reggie Johnson is calling on union members and supporters to be on standby as Midas goes back to the HUDZ board seeking further abatements under Board Bill 197. The bill was up for a hearing last week, but was withdrawn before the meeting.

“Last time, they stood before the HUDZ committee talking about how they bring employers, how they use union labor and how they treat their workers so great,” Johnson said.

But Johnson said when he visited with workers in January. they were not happy. “They didn’t get raises, they don’t work full-time and some have been for a long time working only two or three days a week. You cannot support your family working part-time. They want more hours, they want more money, but the company won’t give it to them.”

Johnson asked Labor and Labor supporters to be ready when Board Bill 197 comes back for a vote.

“We’re asking you to come down to City Hall and stand with us,” Johnson said. “We want the Midas Group to know, we want fair wages. We want great jobs where they don’t have to work two and three jobs, and where they will get a nice wage raise to support themselves and their family.”