THE management of the Lucerne Hotel in New York, which is at the centre of a dispute between Aer Lingus and its cabin crews, has reacted strongly to criticism by SIPTU that it is "just a lobby with rooms".
As cabin crews await strike clearance from the union executive over their relocation at the Lucerne, hotel management has mounted a strong defence of the quality of its service and safety.
Its sales manager, Ms Marlene E. Vieira, says the hotel has a `three diamond' rating under the US Automobile Association's system of hotel ranking.
She questioned the cabin crews' allegations that a mugging had taken place outside the hotel on the night they arrived. She said a security man was always on duty and he had not reported any incident, nor had any report been made to the police.
A spokesman for the 20th precinct of the New York Police Department said that crime rates in the precinct had been falling every year for the last three or four years. As far as areas in Manhattan go, it's one of the best."
Ms Vieira also questioned SIPTU claims that the noise of the adjoining restaurant could keep residents awake. There was a jazz session once a week, and although there might be recorded music on some other nights it would stop at least an hour before the restaurant closed at 2 a.m.
She added that while there was no room service, meals could be delivered to residents' rooms from outside.
A member of the cabin crew committee of SIPTU, Ms Monica Whitaker, said that lack of room service was a serious problem. She said her members had accepted accommodation at the Metro Hotel, where rooms cost less, because it provided room service, meals and was located in a safer precinct. She said: "We are not demanding that Aer Lingus put us into the dearest hotels. The issue is security and location, not price."