The New Industry Wide Collective Bargaining Agreement with the New York Hotel Motel Trades Council, AFL-CIO covering approximately 21,000 of the unions 32,000 members, is effective July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2019.  The new seven year agreement has implications for the sale and purchase of union hotels through a purchaser assumption agreement, even when the hotel manager is the actual employer of the employees.  The new agreement includes stronger union rights, increased wages, guarantees employer-funded full family medical and dental coverage, and extends union card-check neutrality to 32 counties, including New York City, Northern and Central New Jersey, Long Island, and the region from New York City northward to Albany and Saratoga.  The new agreement reaches beyond New York in that the contract language is binding not only the signatory company or individual but also binding on companies and entities related to the signatory.  This agreement will be the template for similar agreements currently under negotiation in other U.S. cities, so being located outside of New York does not mean you can ignore this agreement.