Tag Archives: Unions

by | June 6, 2014 · 9:00 am

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Union Fight Divides Workforce at DoubleTree”

“…Organizers have been walking picket lines with workers and visiting employees at their homes,Double Tree and guests have been approached by union supporters in the lobby and have had fliers slipped under their doors. Over one weekend in early May, a push to get groups to cancel room reservations accounted for more than $30,000 in lost business, according to workers who reject calls for a union…”

An effort to organize employees at Hilton’s DoubleTree Suites has turned the hotel near the Charles River into a workplace that is sharply divided. On one side are housekeepers and other staff members fighting for more affordable health care and a collective voice. Resisting their efforts are administrative workers, restaurant servers, and others who don’t want to lose benefits offered by Hilton, which they say is a generous employer.

Both groups say they are in the majority.

For more: http://bit.ly/Sgavz6

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by | February 7, 2012 · 7:41 am

Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: Alaska Hotel Operator Ordered By Federal Judge To "Restore Terms And Conditions Of Employment" Prior To 2009 Union Negotiation Stoppage

 “…The injunction comes after a three-year legal battle. It requires the Sheraton take steps to restore the terms and conditions of employment as they existed prior to the hotel’s decision to stop union negotiations in 2009…”

Anchorage hotel workers are celebrating after a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against Remington Hospitality, the Texas-based operator of the city’s Sheraton Hotel.

Fay Gavin, a banquet server with 24 years with the Sheraton says she joined the lawsuit after management started doing things like cutting lunch breaks, increasing workload and giving away hours to temp workers.   The injunction, she says, is a step in the right direction.

“With this injunction we’re going to get our seniority back. With seniority, hopefully some of us will have an income again. And then down the road, the fired employees will be coming back, we hope to get back and get a contract, a fair contract and have respect again,” Gavin said.

For more:  http://www.alaskapublic.org/2012/02/06/judge-issues-preliminary-injunction-against-sheraton-hotel-operator/

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by | August 18, 2011 · 5:35 am

Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: Hotel And Lodging Groups Remain Opposed To Pending California Legislation "Mandating The Use Of Fitted Sheets"

“.. Senate Bill 432.. would create “new occupational safety and health standards for all hotels, motels and other similar transient lodging establishments in California…”

“.. It would mandate the “use of fitted sheets … on the bottom sheet on all beds” at such lodging. And it would mandate the “use of long-handled tools,” such as mops, to reduce stooping “to clean bathroom floors, walls, tubs, toilets and other bathroom surfaces…”

 “A 2009 report in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine found that housekeepers have higher (7.87 per 100) injury rates than other hotel workers…”

The California Hotel & Lodging Association pointed out that the medical study didn’t even mention fitted sheets as culprit in the injuries. And it charged it would cost up to $50 million to replace the regular sheets with fitted sheets. Mr. Hayes said the high number is “a bunch of nonsense” and that Sen. De Leon and other legislators are working on the bill to “find a way to implement it without added costs,” within the hotels’ economic structure.

He said the major hotels are in favor of working for a compromise bill. But the association remains adamant against any bill. And he said that, as only about 10 percent of housekeepers are unionized, including the sheet rules in future contracts wouldn’t help much.

For more:  http://articles.ocregister.com/2011-08-16/news/29897915_1_sheets-housekeepers-hotel-workers

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by | August 10, 2011 · 8:03 am

Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: Alaska Hotel's Lawsuit Against Union's Call For Boycott Thrown Out As Federal Judge Rules Actions Protected By Constitution

“…the lawsuit stated that the union has both defamed it and interfered with its ability to conduct business…with the boycott costing  the hotel more than $638,000…A federal judge this month ruled against the hotel, finding that the union’s actions are protected either the U.S. Constitution or federal labor law…”

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought by the operator of a downtown Anchorage hotel over union activities. Unite Here Local 878 has been engaged in a campaign on behalf of workers at the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel & Spa. Union organizer Matthew Fennell says issues include job security, health care costs and workload for about 150 hotel workers.

Workers have been without a contract since 2009.

For more: http://www.ktuu.com/news/ktuu-judge-throws-out-hotel-lawsuit-against-local-union-20110809,0,4092962.story

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by | August 4, 2011 · 2:19 am

Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: Congressional Committee Investigates "Multiple, Redundant Inspections" By OSHA Related To "Labor Intensive" UNITE HERE Campaign On "Safe Work Environments" Against Hotel Management

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by | March 23, 2011 · 12:26 pm

Hotel Industry Information Security Risks: California Hotel Employees Union Files Suit Over Identification Cards "Encoded With Social Security Numbers"

Disney hotel union members submitted Tuesday a petition with about 1,400 signatures to managers, seeking changes to their employee cards that they say would protect them against identity theft.

Unite Here Local 11, the union that represents about 2,100 hotel workers, is fighting to change identification cards that have encoded Social Security numbers, which can be read by smartphone apps and other devices.

Already last month, the union filed a federal class action lawsuit, claiming that the cards violate state law. Union members collected signatures to emphasize that the majority of hotel workers want an immediate change to their ID cards, rather than a few listed on the lawsuit. Leigh Shelton, a union spokeswoman, said some other unions also are supporting the cause, but they did not participate in this petition.

About 20 workers took their petition to the Disney administration building in Anaheim on Tuesday morning.

“This is a very serious problem that we hope they resolve immediately,” said Eddie Chavez, a union organizer and Disneyland Hotel bellman.

For more:  http://www.ocregister.com/news/-293152–.html

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by | December 8, 2010 · 4:21 am

Hospitality Industry Insurance Issues: Santa Cruz Hotel Owners Negotiate Successful Contract With Union Employees Saving Substantial Benefits And Expenses

 In negotiating the new contract the owners and operator initially hoped to slash more than $500,000 from their operating costs; the union, meanwhile, sought to guard employees’ insurance, eight-hour workday and paid vacation.

“It was very, very challenging because the owners were spending more than a million dollars a year in benefits,” says Jane Howard, Chief People Officer for Joie de Vivre Hospitality. “We needed to work together to get the cost of that down some, and we were able to do that.” The hotel ultimately accepted an insurance plan proposed by the labor union that is expected to save it $130,000 annually.

The owners and operators of Santa Cruz’s Dream Inn can rest easy now that the unionized employees at the hotel have finally ratified a contract following nearly a year of negotiations and union demonstrations. The employees, represented by UNITE HERE Local 483, voted to accept a new four-year contract last Tuesday, Nov. 30. 

The Dream Inn is jointly owned by the Southern California real estate developer Ensemble Investments and AEW Capital Management and operated by Joie de Vivre Hospitality, which manages a number of other properties around the state.

The final agreement, which will allow employees to keep their insurance and eight-hour work day but not their paid vacation time, was reached in arbitration with an outside mediator that took place at the hotel on Nov. 23. A week later, the employees voted with a 91 percent majority to accept the contract; had they failed to ratify, the union would have moved to strike.

“I think we made some progress,” Michael Roberts, a bartender at the Dream Inn’s Aquarius restaurant, said. “We definitely got a reasonable contract, but for me, a lot of it came down to the fact that I didn’t feel like the membership would have supported a strike if it came down to that. They were willing to do certain actions, but I don’t think a strike would have been supported.”

The new contract covers 85 workers at the hotel, who, under its terms, will keep a generous benefits package that includes health, dental, vision and life insurance—all free—for the employee’s entire family. “It was very, very challenging because the owners were spending more than a million dollars a year in benefits,” says Jane Howard, Chief People Officer for Joie de Vivre Hospitality. “We needed to work together to get the cost of that down some, and we were able to do that.” The hotel ultimately accepted an insurance plan proposed by the labor union that is expected to save it $130,000 annually.

The insurance policy was ultimately the most important factor for Roberts, although he sympathized with longtime employees who, under the new contract, will lose paid vacation time accrued over many years of service. “I’ve only worked there for three and a half years, but we have employees who have worked there for almost 20 years who are taking hits for vacation—like losing a week or more days—so it was a very big deal for them.”

“That was painful for us, we really didn’t want to have to move on vacation,” says Lizzie Keegan, a representative for UNITE HERE who was present throughout negotiations. “There were some things that obviously stung a little bit, but overall we ratified with over that 90 percent because everybody feels that, in this economic recession, we will have to [make some concessions] and it will be hard, but we’re really proud that we have really good insurance and it covers us and covers our families.”

For more:  http://news.santacruz.com/2010/12/07/dream_inn_hotel_workers_keep_bennies

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by | November 25, 2010 · 7:45 am

Hotel Industry Employee Issues: Unions Unite To Highlight “Housekeeper Workloads” And Workplace Injuries (Video)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfqf5KoVXRg]

Hyatt housekeepers have been given excessive work loads in cleaning extra rooms to the extent that they are experiencing numerous work injuries. In addition, their exhaustion at the end of the work day is seriously eroding their family lives.

On Nov. 18, 2010 a protest was held at the Hyatt Regency Chicago to draw attention to this. Supporting the housekeepers (members of UNITE HERE Local 1) were some 50 labor and community activists, including CACOSH (Chicago Area Committee on Occupational Safety and Health) Director Emanuel Blackwell who declared “work should not hurt.”

To dramatize the excessive work load of the housekeepers, the protesters marched with mops and buckets up to the entrance of the Hyatt to explain that they were there to help the housekeepers do their work. They were not allowed in. One housekeeper brought some fitted bed sheets as examples for the management to consider instead of the non-fitted sheets the workers are forced to use, causing extra backbreaking work when making beds. When she left the sample sheets at the hotel, management had the police write her a ticket for littering. Length – 7:28. Produced by Labor Beat. Labor Beat is a CAN TV Community Partner. Labor Beat is a non-profit 501(c)(3) member of IBEW 1220.

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by | November 3, 2010 · 7:56 am

Hotel Industry Employee Wage Issues: Employee Unions Plan To Use Threat Of Strikes To Put Pressure On Hotel Management To Negotiate Wage Contracts Acceptable To Both Sides As Industry Recovers

The scene looks much the same among union hotel workers: bold employers, drawn-out bargaining, and unions launching intermittent short strikes to keep up pressure. Hilton is now UNITE HERE’s target because the union judges that company most likely to move—a shift in strategy after months of rolling strikes and pickets against the Hyatt chain.

The union hopes to establish a pattern at the bargaining table with Hilton that other hotels will follow.

Chicago hotel workers authorized strikes at four Hilton-owned or -operated properties. They struck the Hilton Chicago for three days in October, coordinating with Hilton workers in Honolulu and San Francisco. Those strikes ended October 19, but more may be on the way.

Workers in Toronto took advantage of the Toronto International Film Festival in September to gain visibility for their struggle. Rolling one-day strikes at three hotels, including festival headquarters, caused actors Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez to join the boisterous picket line. The blare of vuvuzelas added to picket-line noise.

Workers rolled out a red carpet and offered passersby the opportunity to have their photo taken with a hotel worker. Inside, workers spotted the housekeeping manager doing bell work.

Six additional one-day strikes have cascaded through Toronto hotels since the film festival. And 500 workers walked out of the Delta Chelsea, a large downtown conference hotel, on October 28. Delta Chelsea workers say they’ll stay out for two weeks.

Cristal Cruz-Haicken of UNITE HERE Local 75 said the two-week strike was necessary because “they weren’t even taking us seriously” at the bargaining table.

Unstable work schedules and job security are a serious problem. Feliz Serrano, a server, said he has worked there 30 years and still usually only gets 30 hours of work a week, but only if he works six days in a row.

Room attendant Jian Ying Liu said the hotel has tried to get rid of her three times because of injuries she received in her 18 years of work there.

Several conferences immediately moved because of the strike.

LOCKING IN THE RECESSION

In the U.S., Hilton workers have been working without a new contract since August 2009. They charge their employer with trying to lock the recession into their wages and workloads even as the hotel industry recovers profitability.

Blackstone, the private equity group that controls Hilton, upped third-quarter profits by 23 percent, to $340 million. This April, the New York Federal Reserve wrote off $180 million of Blackstone’s debt, allegedly to create jobs.

But the hotel chain is trying to squeeze more work from the existing staff. Hilton is proposing that workers who currently clean 14 rooms a day clean 20, with the result that some workers will be laid off.

UNITE HERE members call Hilton’s push to increase their workload the “dirty rooms” program, pointing out that Hilton is reassuring workers they won’t have to meet the same high standards of cleanliness when they’re required to clean 40 percent more rooms.

The average Local 2 member in San Francisco makes $30,000 a year, and if Hilton gets its way workers will soon be paying $173 a month for family health care coverage.

According to Local 2 staffer Riddhi Mehta-Neugebauer in San Francisco, workers have foregone raises over the years, preferring to maintain affordable health coverage. The new $173 per month amounts to a huge takeaway.

Hilton is resisting the union’s proposal that the company put aside an extra 12 cents per hour for pensions, which, UNITE HERE calculates, would mean the difference between a $900 and a $1,200 monthly pension.

Meanwhile, management’s pay is up. According to a Wall Street Journal survey, Blackstone’s executive team got a 12 percent pay increase this year.

For more:  http://labornotes.org/2010/11/unions-reach-short-strikes-stop-concessions

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