Join Fem2.0 and UNITE HERE! for a #unionwomen Tweet Chat on Wednesday, September 14th, from 2PM EST-3PM EST, to talk about the unique role women play in the labor movement and the benefits of union membership for women.

We’ll be joined by Janel Charles, a housekeeper at a Hyatt hotel in Chicago, who is on strike this week to protest the treatment of housekeepers and other hotel workers.

As we’ve seen in recent months, the labor movement is under attack, and women’s rights are being rolled back by anti-choice legislation and a culture of victim-blaming in the media. Members of both movements are coming together on Wednesday to talk about the attacks on our shared progressive values and how we can work together to ensure the safety America’s female workers.

We’ll be tweeting from @Fem2pt0 and @UNITEHEREUnion, so be sure to join us at #unionwomen on Wednesday!

Over Labor Day Weekend, 2,000 members of UNITE HERE Local 54, the Atlantic Casino Workers picketed outside Resorts Casino. Union members are fighting for a fair contract at Resorts. Long-time workers saw their wages cut by an average of almost $5 per hour by new owners. As a consequence of the wage cuts, over 100 employees applied for food stamps.

"I’m getting my 1996 pay," said Shirish Patel, an EVS worker at Resorts. "My savings are eroding. You can’t keep up in 2011 on 1996 pay."

Contracts covering about 12,000 employees at nine other casinos in Atlantic City expire on September 15, setting the stage for more potential labor strife in Atlantic City. In 2004, Local 54 members struck at seven casinos for 34 days.

On August 25, 2011, Administrative Law Judge Gregory Z. Meyerson issued a long-awaited verdict on the sixteen separate allegations of unlawful behavior which had been lodged against Remington Lodging & Hospitality LLC, the operator of the Sheraton Anchorage hotel, by the National Labor Relations Board (the Board), the federal agency authorized to enforce the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which is the law that governs labor relations for most private sector employers. This ruling brings Sheraton workers one step closer to justice.

Basing his conclusions on the evidence that was presented before him during 40 days of hearing, Judge Meyerson’s ruling is a searing indictment of the Sheraton Anchorage’s reign of terror and abuse directed against its workers and their union, UNITE HERE Local 878.

The Board first brought most of these charges against the Sheraton Anchorage almost eighteen months ago, on May 28, 2010, and added more on August 17, 2010. Now, at long last, Judge Meyerson has concluded that the Sheraton Anchorage violated federal labor law in numerous ways, including:

1. unlawfully disciplining and suspending employees for presenting a petition to the hotel’s General Manager;
2. unlawfully firing four employees for passing out handbills to the public outside the doors of the hotel;
3. unlawfully demanding that workers stop wearing union buttons;
4. unlawfully enforcing multiple illegal rules contained in the hotel’s “employee handbook”;
5. unlawfully implementing numerous bargaining proposals, including raising the minimum number of rooms housekeepers are required to clean from 15 to 17, eliminating paid 30-minute meal breaks, and imposing fees on cafeteria purchases, without first notifying the appropriate federal agency of its intent to do so;
6. unlawfully replacing the existing, union-sponsored medical insurance plan with a different, company-selected plan, without first bargaining in good faith about this proposal with Local 878;
7. unlawfully coercing employees to sign a petition indicating their desire to reject Local 878 as their union; and thereafter
8. unlawfully refusing to recognize or bargain with Local 878 as the lawful representative of the hotel’s hourly workers.

By way of remedy, Judge Meyerson ordered the hotel to undo all of its unlawful acts, including (among other things) eliminating all of the unlawful provisions of its employee handbook; reinstating the rule that workers need only clean 15 rooms per shift; reinstituting the earlier, union-sponsored medical insurance plan; repaying workers for any out-of-pocket expenses they incurred that would have been covered by the prior plan; making workers whole for any uncompensated 30-minute meal breaks and any fees they paid for cafeteria food; and expunging all records of unlawful discipline imposed on workers while making those workers whole for any economic damage they suffered as a result of that discipline, plus interest.

Most importantly, Judge Meyerson ordered the hotel to recognize that its workers have the right to make complaints about their wages and working conditions, the right to wear union buttons, the right to petition their General Manager for relief, and the right to handbill the public for support – all rights that the hotel had inexcusably and unlawfully previously denied to them. To make sure that workers understand that they really do have these rights, Judge Meyerson took the unusual step of also ordering that a densely-written 5-page notice setting forth their legal rights under the NLRA be publicly read aloud, in both English and in Spanish, to the assembled employees of the hotel by a high-level corporate executive in the present of an agent of the Board — or by a Board agent in the present of a high-level corporate executive.

Finally, the judge ordered the hotel to acknowledge that Local 878 still represents the hotel’s hourly employees, as it did before the hotel commenced its illegal activities, and to recommence bargaining with the union, this time in good faith with the intention of reaching an agreement.

The scope and importance of this decision cannot easily be overemphasized. During the time period since the Sheraton Anchorage embarked on its campaign to rid itself of the union that represents its workers, it has suffered one significant legal defeat after another. First, starting in May of 2010, the Board found merit in countless unfair labor practice charges that had been leveled against the hotel by the union. Six months later, in November of 2010, a United States District Judge in Anchorage dismissed the hotel’s lawsuit against the Board, which it had brought less than six weeks earlier in a futile effort to try to stop the Board from enforcing the NLRA. On August 4 of this year, just a few weeks before Judge Meyerson’s ruling, yet another federal judge in Anchorage dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit for defamation and tortious interference that the hotel had filed against Local 878.

While awaiting Judge Meyerson’s ruling, Local 878 has filed 30 additional unfair labor practice charges against the Anchorage Sheraton, alleging that the hotel has engaged in even more acts of intimidation and retaliation against union activists and supporters. Local 878 anticipates that the Board will take further legal action against the hotel, in support of the workers and their union, sometime in the next few weeks or months. In the meantime the consumer boycott of the hotel remains in effect and Sheraton workers remain hopeful that this ruling will bring them one significant step closer to resolving the labor dispute.

Dozens of Manhattan College dining hall workers, joined by students and faculty, rallied across the street from the entrance to the college’s Bronx campus on September 1 to protest actions of the school’s new dining hall operator, Gourmet Dining, which has failed to rehire about 60 of the workers who previously staffed Manhattan College’s dining hall since taking over operations at the end of May.

That decision has left workers, some of whom have served the Manhattan College community for as many as 39 years, to struggle with a sudden loss of income and health insurance. Nearly all of the affected workers are Bronx residents, an area that has been hit hard by the recession. "It’s a terrible feeling to lose your job in this economy," says Angelic Samuel, who has worked at Manhattan College for 7 years. "My biggest concern is how this will affect my daughter and how I will be able to provide for her."

Manhattan College dining workers were members of UNITE HERE Local 100 and as a result of their union contract enjoyed decent wages and family medical benefits.

For more information, click here.

On August 26, 2011, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board issued a Complaint charging that Castlewood has maintained an unlawful lockout of its unionized workers since August 10, 2010–"in order to deny the Locked Out Employees the right to return to their former positions of employment because the Locked Out Employees joined and/or supported the Union, and to discourage employees from engaging in Union activities."

This Saturday, locked-out Castlewood employees will arrive at the Club in uniform and ready to work. Click here to learn more.

Hollywood–Hotel housekeepers and immigration rights activists gathered in front of the new W Hotel in Hollywood on Friday, Aug. 26, to condemn the W for demanding Latina housekeepers show proof of social security numbers, more than one year after being hired. The hotel is owned by HEI.

The W’s demand came just four days after housekeepers complained about heavy workloads at a union negotiating session.  The housekeepers also recently filled out missed break complaints to be filed with the State of California’s Department of Labor.

On Monday, managers started suspending housekeepers from work and told them they have three days to verify their social security numbers. However, W managers notified union officials late in the day Thursday that the suspended housekeepers would be brought back to work.

Immigrant rights groups rallied in support of the W housekeepers on Friday, urging the W to make the decision permanent and never do it again.

"The W and its owner, HEI, must get the message that this community will not stand for a company profiting off of the hard-work of immigrants, then after they exercise their rights, create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation," said Rabbi Jonathan Klein, executive director of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice.

Housekeepers produced documents verifying their eligibility to work in the US when they were hired at the Hollywood hotel more than one year ago.

"Just 4 days after attending union negotiations and complaining about heavy housekeeping workloads, managers began questioning Latina housekeepers about unverified social security numbers," said Daniella Rodriguez, a W housekeeper. "Managers sent at least 6 of my co-workers home and said they have three days to verify their Social Security numbers."

The strike at the Boathouse restaurant in Central Park has lasted more than two weeks, with 60 waiters, cooks and dishwashers picketing, chanting and drumming outside day after day. But now the strikers are getting some long-awaited outside support.

The National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that oversees union matters, plans to issue a far-reaching legal complaint against the restaurant, federal officials and union leaders say. The complaint would accuse the Boathouse of illegally threatening and questioning workers, as well as firing and otherwise punishing more than 15 workers for supporting the union.

The labor board has also said, according to these officials, that it plans to seek an unusual judicial order to require the Boathouse to enter contract negotiations with the union, even though no election has been held to determine whether the restaurant’s 140 workers want to unionize.

The labor board seeks such orders only in the rare instances when it concludes that an employer’s illegal actions are so widespread and egregious that they would prevent a fair unionization vote from being held.

Read the rest of the article.

Read more below.

• Boathouse Restaurant Workers Walk Off Job, The New York Times, August 9, 2011
• Surprise walkout at Central Park Boathouse, Crain’s New York, August 9, 2011
• The union/Boathouse fight gets personal, Crain’s New York, August 12, 2011
• "Boycott the Boathouse" Flyer Advises Would-be Patrons on Dining Alternatives, New York Magazine, August 12, 2011

After three years, Local 1 members at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago, owned by Sage Hospitality, ratified their first contract this month and got a $96,000 payout for workers who had been fired during the contract campaign. It has been a long haul for hotel workers at the Blackstone, who began organizing to bring the union into the hotel shortly after it reopened in the summer of 2008. Thanks to the determination of strong leaders and great organizers, the union prevailed after a lengthy anti-union campaign by the management of the hotel.

On June 15, 2009, the Blackstone terminated almost all of the top union committee—14 workers total. The union fought the company"s actions, filing charges with the labor board. The organizers" deep relationships with the committee and fired workers inspired many workers to testify before the Labor Board. In a major ruling last summer, an administrative law judge of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that owners and management of the Blackstone Hotel had illegally fired workers, cut staff benefits, and circulated a petition to decertify the union. The Blackstone Hotel was ordered to offer jobs back to the 14 employees and compensate them with any lost wages and benefits. When the contract was settled, several workers were issued checks from the hotel totaling more than $96,000 in lost wages.

In the end, workers prevailed and settled a great contract with big gains. By the end of the contract, some workers will see their wages increase by $3.00 an hour, and all workers will be eligible for free individual healthcare coverage. The new contract includes some of the best language in Chicago for fair housekeeping workloads.

Over the last several years, many community leaders worked on this campaign. These allies led delegations and spoke with legislators, reminding them of the $47.6 million in taxpayer money given to the Blackstone and the hotel"s promise to stay neutral if workers wanted a union.

We dedicate this victory to LaFrances Rowell, a 27-year-old housekeeper and leader at the Blackstone Hotel, who has been battling breast cancer since the campaign began, while raising three young children as a single parent. Her determination and spirit to continue the fight against all odds is an inspiration to us all.

On August 9, members of Local 6 and the New York Hotel Trades Council at the Central Park Boathouse in New York walked off the job to protest unfair labor practices by the restaurant’s management.  After a strong majority of workers signed union cards in January, the Union petitioned for an NLRB election.  Since then, dozens of employees who supported the Union have been fired, and the NLRB has suspended the election pending its investigation of numerous charges filed by the Union.  Hundreds of Local 6 members and supporters are distributing the “Boycott the Boathouse Complimentary Map and Restaurant Guide," which offers a detailed map of Central Park and explains the boycott of the Boathouse in twenty-two languages. 

Read more below.

• Boathouse Restaurant Workers Walk Off Job, The New York Times, August 9, 2011
• Surprise walkout at Central Park Boathouse, Crain’s New York, August 9, 2011
• The union/Boathouse fight gets personal, Crain’s New York, August 12, 2011
• "Boycott the Boathouse" Flyer Advises Would-be Patrons on Dining Alternatives, New York Magazine, August 12, 2011

An estimated 400 SeaTac hospitality workers and labor supporters gathered Thursday afternoon, August 4, in front of the DoubleTree Hotel near the SeaTac Airport to call for livable wages, job security, and respect on the job.

This summer, union contracts covering more than 1,400 workers have expired.  The affected businesses include the Hilton and Doubletree Hotels in SeaTac, as well as the Westin, Edgewater, Seattle Hilton, Washington Athletic Club, and Space Needle Restaurant in Seattle.

“When the economy crashed, workers sacrificed along with the hotels,” said Erik Van Rossum, Secretary-Treasurer of UNITE HERE Local 8, the union representing the workers in the campaign. “But now hotels are profitable, and they are trying to keep their workers in a permanent recession.”

During the recession, hotels continued to remain profitable through a combination of layoffs, decreased work schedules and increased workloads for staff. The hotel industry’s own projections now predict record profit levels by next year. Read more…