St. Louis’ Renaissance Hotel, which went through foreclosure earlier this year, is asking union workers to help it cut costs. The downtown hotel is asking Unite Here, the union representing hotel employees, to forego two wage increases and to let management temporarily suspend contributions to retirement accounts.

Bondholders, who took ownership of the hotel in February, were briefed on its finances last week. A summary of the conference call says:

Unite Here proposed to Marriott and the Trustee that its members would forego such contributions and increases, totaling approximately $200,000 over a twelve month period, if the Trustee agreed to require that future owners of the Hotel recognize Unite Here’s collective bargaining agreement. Although the cost savings would be favorable in the short term, the Trustee does not believe that it should obligate future owner(s) of the Hotel.

Bruce Stemerman, of consulting firm Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, also said that his firm has taken a “preliminary look” at selling the former Lennox Hotel, which has 160 suites and is part of the Renaissance complex.

The report says that the hotel’s first-quarter operating income was ahead of budget by $516,000, but that the rest of the year “is not expected to be as favorable.” Weak demand may leave the Renaissance in the red:

At this time there is a substantial likelihood that the Hotel will have negative Net Operating Income for the year 2009.