The union/Boathouse fight gets personal

[FarCenter]

As the four-day-old strike at the Central Park Boathouse continues, management says it has not made a significant dent in business.

But the New York Hotel & Motel Trades Council, which is organizing the strike over alleged unfair labor practices, says it plans to stay the course and has ramped up its public relations campaign. It launched a website that encourages people to cancel their events at the restaurant and to send e-mails to Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe to push the city to cancel its contract with Boathouse's owner, Dean Poll. The union said the site, DumpDean.com, has generated 5,000 hits.

It is just one piece of an escalating drive by the union to either get the city to get rid of Mr. Poll or force him to the negotiating table. Hundreds of volunteers are handing out postcards in Central Park, urging New Yorkers to tell Mr. Benepe to cancel Mr. Poll's contract.

Read more: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20110812/FREE/110819950