Labor Peace Agreements for Hotel Projects

Baltimore City Code art. 11, div. II, subtit. 13

in effect

Baltimore City Code, Article 11, § 13-1 Definitions.

§ 13-1. Definitions. (a) In general. In this subtitle, the following terms have the meanings indicated. (b) Contract. “Contract” includes, but is not limited to, a lease, management agreement, service agreement, loan, bond, guarantee, or other similar agreement to which the City is a party. (c) Employer. (1) “Employer” means any person who employs individuals at the site of a hotel development project. (2) “Employer” does not include any person: (i) who employs fewer than the equivalent of 15 full-time or part-time employees at a hotel development project; (ii) who has entered into 1 or more agreements with 1 or more labor organizations regarding the employees at the hotel development project who are, or are likely to be, the subject of union organizing, if the City determines that the agreement provides protection from the risks of labor-management conflict that is at least equal to the protection provided by the minimum terms of a labor peace agreement; or (iii) whose ongoing economic performance and potential for labor-management conflict at the site will not, in the City’s determination, substantially affect the City’s proprietary interest in the hotel development project. (d) Labor organization. “Labor organization” means an organization, agency, or employee- representation committee or plan: (1) in which employees participate; and (2) that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work. (e) {Repealed} (Ord. 22-125; Ord. 07-578.)

Baltimore City Code, Article 11, § 13-2 Findings and declarations.

§ 13-2. Findings and declarations. (a) City’s risks and liabilities. In the course of managing real property that it owns or otherwise in carrying out its functions in the public interest, the City participates in developments, as a property owner, lessor, proprietor, lender, or guarantor, facing similar risks and liabilities as those faced by other business entities that participate in these ventures. (b) Proprietary interest requires prudent management. In these situations, the City: (i) has an ongoing proprietary interest in the developments and a direct interest in their financial performance; and (ii) must make prudent management decisions, similar to any private business entity, to ensure efficient management of its business concerns and to maximize benefits and minimize risks. (c) Risk of labor-management conflict. (1) One risk is the possibility of labor-management conflict. (2) A major potential outcome of labor-management conflict is economic action by labor organizations against employers. Experience of municipal and other investors demonstrates, for example, that organizing drives under formal and adversarial union certification processes often deteriorate into protracted and acrimonious labor-management conflict. (3) Labor-management conflict can: (i) result in construction delays, work stoppages, picketing, strikes, consumer boycotts, and other forms of adverse economic pressure; and (ii) adversely affect the City’s financial or other proprietary business interest by causing delay in the completion of a project, by reducing the revenues or increasing the costs of the project, and by generating negative publicity. (d) Risks heightened in hotel industry. (1) These risks are heightened in the hotel industry, because this industry is so closely related to tourism, which is a linchpin of the City’s economy. (2) Labor-management conflict in hotel development projects in which the City is an economic participant can jeopardize the operation of related tourist and commercial facilities, as well as the City’s national reputation as a tourist and convention destination. (e) Reducing risk through labor peace agreement. One way of reducing the risk to the City’s proprietary interests is to require, as a condition of the City’s investment or other economic participation in a hotel development project, that employers participating in the project seek agreements with labor organizations in which the labor organizations agree to forbear from adverse economic action against the employers’ operations. (Ord. 07-578.)

Baltimore City Code, Article 11, § 13-3 Scope of subtitle.

§ 13-3. Scope of subtitle. This subtitle does not apply to: (1) a hotel development project for which the City determines that the risk to the City’s financial or other nonregulatory interest resulting from labor-management conflict is so minimal or speculative as not to warrant concern for the City’s investment or other nonregulatory interest; or (2) a hotel development project for which the City determines that its proprietary interest is less than $100,000. (Ord. 07-578.)

Baltimore City Code, Article 11, § 13-4 Construction of subtitle.

§ 13-4. Construction of subtitle. (a) Union recognition. Nothing in this subtitle requires an employer to recognize a particular labor organization. (b) Collective bargaining agreement. Nothing in this subtitle requires an employer to enter into a collective bargaining agreement establishing the substantive terms and conditions of employment. (c) Labor policy. This subtitle is not intended, and may not be interpreted, to express any generally applicable policy regarding labor-management relations or to regulate those relations in any way. (d) Employee preference. This subtitle is not intended to favor any particular outcome in determining employee preference regarding union representation. (Ord. 07-578.)

Baltimore City Code, Article 11, § 13-5 {Reserved}

Baltimore City Code, Article 11, § 13-6 Determining need for agreement.

§ 13-6. Determining need for agreement. (a) In general. For each hotel development project in which the City participates or has a financial interest, the City shall determine whether the City has a proprietary interest in the project. (b) Governing criteria. The City is deemed to have a proprietary interest in a hotel development project if the City determines that: (1) through a lease of real property that is owned by the City and used for the project, the City receives ongoing revenue, excluding government fees, tax revenue, assessment revenue, or similar fees and revenues, except for tax revenue under the circumstances specified in items (2) and (3) of this subsection; (2) ongoing revenues from the project, including incremental tax revenues generated by the project, are used to repay loans provided by the City to assist the development of the project; (3) ongoing revenues from the project, including incremental tax revenues generated by the project, are used to pay debt service on bonds provided by the City to assist the development of the project; (4) the City has significant assets at risk because it has agreed to underwrite or guarantee the development of the project or loans related to the project; or (5) the City has a significant ongoing economic and nonregulatory interest that is at risk in the project’s financial success and is likely to be adversely affected by labor-management conflict, except that no interest is considered “economic and nonregulatory” if it arises from the exercise of regulatory or police powers, such as taxation (except as set forth in items (2) and (3) of this subsection), zoning, or the issuance of permits or licenses. (Ord. 07-578.)

Baltimore City Code, Article 11, § 13-7 Agreement required.

§ 13-7. Agreement required. (a) “Economic participation” defined. In this section, “economic participation” means a lease, loan, financing, underwriting, guarantee, or other financial benefit described in § 13-6(b) of this subtitle. (b) When City to require. If the City determines that it has a proprietary interest in a hotel development project, then it shall require, as a condition of the City’s economic participation, that each employer on the project enter into 1 or more labor peace agreements with 1 or more labor organizations that represent, or seek to represent, workers on the project. (c) Default, etc., provisions. Any contract between the City and the beneficiary of the City’s economic participation in a project may include provisions governing default, damages, or recision that the City considers appropriate to assure that the requirements of this section are fully satisfied. (Ord. 07-578.)

Baltimore City Code, Article 11, § 13-8 Tenor and contents of agreement.

§ 13-8. Tenor and contents of agreement. (a) To be enforceable under LMRA. The labor peace agreement shall be a written agreement enforceable between the employer and the labor organization under § 301(a) of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, 29 U.S.C. § 185(a). (b) Minimum contents. The labor peace agreement shall contain, at a minimum, a provision prohibiting the labor organization and its members from engaging in any picketing, work stoppage, boycott, or other economic interference with any of the employer’s operations in which the City has a proprietary interest, for the duration of that interest. (Ord. 07-578.)

Baltimore City Code, Article 11, § 13-9 Violation of agreement by union.

§ 13-9. Violation of agreement by union. An employer that performs its obligations under a labor peace agreement is relieved of further obligation under the agreement if the labor organization engages in adverse economic action such as striking, picketing, or boycotting the employer. (Ord. 07-578.)

Baltimore City Code, Article 11, §§ 13-10 to 13-15 {Reserved}

Baltimore City Code, Article 11, § 13-16 Notice of subtitle.

§ 13-16. Notice of subtitle. (a) Notice required. A request for proposals, invitation to bid, or similar document issued by the City regarding a hotel development project must include a reference to and summary of this subtitle. (b) No exemption for omission. Failure to include a reference or summary in a document does not exempt an employer otherwise subject to the requirements of this subtitle. (Ord. 07-578.)

Source: City of Baltimore Department of Legislative Reference, City of Baltimore Law Library (codes.baltimorecity.gov; Open Law Library bulk XML)URL: https://codes.baltimorecity.gov/us/md/cities/baltimore/code/11/II/13Fetched: 10/25/2026