Author Archives for Ann Kammerer
Hundreds of UNITE HERE members in 17 cities across the U.S. participated in LGBT Pride events in the month of June as part of our union’s Sleep With The Right People campaign. Together, we have signed up over 3,000 people at Pride events onto pledges to "Sleep With The Right People"–that is, patronize union hotels whenever possible and steer clear of hotels with active boycotts.
We have also raised awareness about Hyatt, a company that is anti-worker and anti-gay. Hyatt is in partnership with Doug Manchester, the owner of the Grand Hyatt in San Diego and one of the worst enemies of the LGBT community. He provided seed money to fuel the initiative to ban gay marriage in California. While Hyatt courts an LGBT customer base, the company refuses to condemn Manchester’s actions. Leaders of the LGBT community and UNITE HERE have launched a boycott of this hotel, and together we have cost the company millions of dollars in business. With 3,000 more people added to our list of supporters, our outreach to customers about Hyatt and many other campaigns will be that much stronger. For more information, visit SleepWithTheRightPeople.org or join us on the Sleep With The Right People Facebook page for more news and updates.
With a hot new pitcher on the mound and a freshly-approved contract in hand, members of UNITE HERE Local 25 are enthusiastically cheering on the Nationals. Workers at the Nationals Stadium in Washington, DC, overwhelmingly approved a new contract agreement on June 21.
"It’s a great contract," said UNITE HERE Local 25 Executive Secretary-Treasurer John Boardman. "Money was not the issue," said Boardman, noting that the Nationals readily agreed to wage, benefit and pension improvements. "The major issue was subcontracting," Boardman said. "We had three tough months of negotiations, a great negotiating committee and a membership that was well aware of what was at stake. In the end, we not only preserved more than 500 existing union jobs at the stadium, but as the Nationals build out more facilities in the future, they’ve agreed that workers at existing vendors will be covered and a card-check neutrality agreement will cover those at new vendors. We couldn’t be more pleased." Local 25 members work at the concession stands throughout the Nationals ballpark in Washington, DC.
(-Metropolitan Washington’s Union City!)
Little-known company will have disproportionate impact on Toronto’s hotel workers
Just days before the G20 summit in Toronto, five hundred hotel workers gathered at the Fairmont Royal York to put a spotlight on Westmont, one of the world’s largest hotel owners. They rallied for fair contracts and to express their concern that Westmont will use the rhetoric of recession to lock in cuts and attack their standards in upcoming negotiations.
Fully one third of Toronto hotel workers bargaining this summer are employees of Westmont-owned hotels including the Fairmont Royal York. The rally coincided with an annual meeting of investors in a Real Estate Investment Trust sponsored by Westmont, InnVest.
“InnVest and Westmont are expecting to reap a windfall because of the G20 Summit,” said Cicely Phillips, a Room Attendant at the Fairmont Royal York and Vice President of Local 75. “Hotel workers have struggled hard to finally make hotel jobs good jobs and now Westmont is threatening that ‘liveable’ employment.” Ashley Hardy, representing Local 261 in Ottawa, added that in her city, InnVest has asked for concessions by hotel workers, despite the fact that most hotels in Ottawa have performed well, even during the downturn.
Strikers at the Congress Hotel, joined by hundreds of community supporters and members of UNITE HERE Local 1, rallied outside the Congress Hotel yesterday, June 14, to commemorate the 7th Anniversary of the Congress Hotel Strike, now the longest hotel strike in American history.
The event, led by keynote speaker Congressman Luis Gutierrez, gave recognition to the strikers who are immigrants to the United States and honored them for their struggle to lift job standards for all workers in the Chicago hospitality industry. In so doing, strike supporters at the rally called both for an end to the strike at the Congress Hotel and immigration reform in the United States.
An overwhelming majority of the courageous individuals who have led the longest hotel strike in American history at the Congress Hotel are immigrants to the United States. Working families in Chicago have made astounding gains in recent years because the Congress strikers have refused to settle for substandard wages. At the time that the strike began, Chicago housekeepers were making just $8.83 an hour, compared to $14.60 an hour today. The strikers at the Congress Hotel stand as a powerful example of how immigrant workers in the United States are leading the fight to raise standards for low-wage workers in the service industry and beyond. The Congress strikers continue a powerful American tradition of immigrants, generation after generation, who have come to this country and fought to make jobs in the United States better.
"We face two big struggles—one for the rights of workers and the other for the rights of immigrants," said Rene Patino, who worked in the Room Service Department at Congress Hotel before the strike began." These struggles make us stronger every day. We face great obstacles, but we will keep fighting until all workers are treated with respect and we have just immigration laws."
On June 15, 2003, members of UNITE HERE Local 1 working at the Congress Hotel went out on strike after the hotel decided to freeze wages until 2010 and slash benefits. To ensure that hotel jobs in this city are strong, family-sustaining jobs, Congress strikers have taken the fight to the streets of Chicago and around the world. There are about 60 active remaining strikers, who both picket the Congress hotel and have lead a campaign statewide to bring an end to the Congress Hotel Strike. Since the time that negotiations began, the Congress Hotel has never offered a proposal with increases in wages or the company’s share of healthcare costs from the rates listed in the contract that expired in 2002.
"When the Irish, Italians, and Polish came to this country, they treated them poorly. They were wrong to treat them poorly then, and they’re wrong to treat them poorly today," said Rep. Gutierrez (D-IL). "And just like the Americans who stood up for immigrants before, we stand for the immigrants of today—for fairness, for justice and a decent living for workers and their families."
During the rally, about 100 picketers marched two blocks south to the Blackstone Hotel, where workers have faced an anti-union campaign while trying to settle their first contract. Hotel management has fired workers who are visible union supporters, threatened to increase workload and refused to offer affordable health care. Last week, UNITE HERE filed a complaint against the Blackstone with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) alleging unfair labor practices, including retaliation against workers for union involvement. Hotel workers and community supporters called on JPMorgan, who lent $26 million to Blackstone owners Sage Hospitality, to stop supporting bad employers.
UNITE HERE Local 1 represents over 15,000 hotel and food service workers in Chicago and casino workers in Northwest Indiana. For more information on the strike, go to PresidentPicketsCongress.org.
This weekend, UNITE HERE members and Sleep With the Right People are marching in Pride events in Baltimore, Honolulu, Portland, OR, and Sacramento. Go to www.sleepwiththerightpeople.org to learn more about Pride events throughout the summer.
In the last several weeks, UNITE HERE members in Hartford, CT; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Boston; Pittsburgh; Honolulu; and Philadelphia marched in Pride celebrations. In Pittsburgh, activist Cleve Jones met with UNITE HERE Local 57 members and Pittsburgh community allies to launch Pittsburgh’s week of pride activities.
Pleasanton, CA – Maintenance and food and beverage workers at the elite Castlewood Country Club who have been locked out of their jobs for over 100 days protested in front of the Club on Saturday, June 12, to demand the Club end the lockout and bargain in good faith with their union.
The Castlewood workers were joined by 3 mineworkers from Boron, CA, who earlier this year endured a 107-day lockout before coming to an agreement with their employer. Castlewood workers were also joined by community allies and California Assembly Member Torlakson.
"We voted to keep our union 41-17 despite being locked out. The Club challenged that vote and lost at the NLRB. It’s time they stop this insanity and let us go back to work," said 5-year Castlewood banquet server Sergio Gonzales. Under federal law, the union cannot be decertified for a year.
The lockout began on February 25, 2010 when management turned away employees when they reported to work. Negotiations stalled when the Club insisted that their employees contribute $739 per month toward their family health care costs, nearly 40% of the average take-home pay of the locked out employees.
Workers offered to increase their share of health costs from 0 to $225 per month, restrict health benefits to full-time employees, and accept a wage freeze in the first year and very low raises in later years.
These concessions would more than offset the costs of retaining family medical benefits.
According to the Club, it has spent $337,000 on expenses related to the labor dispute. That price tag includes $35K lost margin on events. "With that kind of money, how can they say they can’t afford our kids’ health care? It doesn’t make sense to me," said 6-year janitor Maria Munoz.
Last month, workers voted to join the union’s Strike and Defense Fund, a fund meant to protect workers from economic actions made by their employer. With this vote, locked out Castlewood workers now have access to $185,000 to help them with living expenses while they are locked out. Additionally, because EDD ruled that the lockout is an offensive action on the part of the Club, workers can receive unemployment benefits. "This is really important to me because now I know I can keep fighting for many more months for a fair contract and an end to this lockout without being starved into a deal that would essentially be a 40% pay cut for me," said Francisca Carranza, a maintenance worker at Castlewood.
To read more, go to www.endthelockout.org.
On Friday, June 10, over 400 hospitality workers marched and rallied in downtown Pittsburgh, calling on the hospitality industry to value workers’ contribution in Pittsburgh’s economic rebound and success.
The marchers were members of UNITE HERE Local 57, Pittsburgh’s union for hotel, gaming, food service, and hospitality workers. They were joined by hotel, food service, and gaming workers from Erie, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Chicago as well as community leaders, including Pittsburgh City Councilman Patrick Dowd.
Pittsburgh’s hospitality industry is well-positioned for an economic rebound, with recent success in establishing itself as a major tourist and convention destination with the G-20 meetings and the Stanley Cup play-offs. Nationally, hotel companies are reporting better than expected profits and growth projections for 2010 and beyond. Local 57 members and their allies called on the Pittsburgh hospitality industry to raise standards for Pittsburgh workers as the City sees an economic rebound.
"I’m marching to get the respect that workers deserve," said Local 57 member Eric Toal, a bartender and concession stand worker at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
Mario Davis, a Local 57 member and worker at the Omni told the crowd assembled at Mellon Square, "We are not only a strong, fighting union, but we are also part of a movement that is fighting for equality and justice."
Henry Tamarin, UNITE HERE International Vice-President told the crowd, "Across the country, we are telling companies that they cannot lock workers into the recession. As the hospitality industry rebounds, workers must be part of the economic recovery. UNITE HERE workers from across North America are standing with the members of Local 57 in Pittsburgh."
Today’s march in Pittsburgh comes the day after protests by hotel workers in Chicago, Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Vancouver, BC.
UNITE HERE International Union represents 300,000 workers in the hospitality, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, laundry, and airport industries across North America. UNITE HERE Local 57 represents hotel, gaming, food service, and hospitality workers throughout Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania.
On May 11, hundreds of members of UNITE HERE Local 355 in Miami, Florida, joined together with community leaders, Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, and UNITE HERE International President John Wilhelm to commemorate the recent tragedy in Haiti and to stand up for economic security for Haitian-American workers. UNITE HERE members discussed the impact of the Haitian earthquake on their families and themselves, and called on South Florida’s employers to raise standards for all workers.
Following the earthquake in Haiti, Local 355 embarked on a fact-finding survey of Haitian-American members. The survey revealed that Haitian-American members of Local 355 send an average of almost 30 percent of their wages back to Haiti to support their families, and that they feel that improved wages and benefits would most help them to assist their families in Haiti. Members also identified federal immigration reform as a high priority, citing the need to reunify and stabilize their families.
Rolande Richardson, a Local 355 committee member and worker at Delaware North Companies at Ft. Lauderdale Airport, saw the survey results as a call to action: "The earthquake in Haiti was terrible, and many of my co-workers lost family members, but the reality is that we’re also struggling here in the U.S." She added, "We send money to support our families, but we need to be able to support ourselves also. We need to get our churches and communities more active in the day to day struggles of all workers. Rebuilding our life here will help rebuild Haiti."
On Thursday, May 13, members of UNITE HERE Local 804 overwhelmingly ratified a new contract for over 900 food service workers who proudly serve our military at Ft. Benning in Columbus, Georgia. Members of Local 804 have been in negotiations with the Ft. Benning food service contractor L & S Services since March.
Local 804 members saw unprecedented member and community involvement in this year’s contract negotiations. On Monday March 10, 2010, over 500 UNITE HERE Local 804 members and labor, community, and religious leaders rallied to celebrate the settlement of the new contract.
The new Local 804 contract sets landmark standards for dignity and respect on the job for food service workers who serve our nation’s troops. The new agreement includes twenty new items improving working conditions. UNITE HERE President John Wilhelm said in his speech at the May 10th rally, "I have never seen language that guarantees respect and dignity like this in any contract." The new contract also achieves the best financial terms ever in the history of Local 804 by more than doubling the economic terms from the last contract.
The May 10th event was attended by numerous political and community leaders including Words of Wisdom Christian Centers Bishop Barbara Shepherd; State Representative Debbie Buckner; State Representative Carolyn Hugley; Mike Thurmond, candidate for U.S. Senate; two candidates for Governor of Georgia, Roy Barnes and Dubose Porter; Gail Buckner, candidate for Secretary of State; Dr. Joe Hurst, candidate for State Senate; Frank Saunders, candidate for State House; and two candidates for Mayor of Columbus, Teresa Tomlinson and Zeph Baker.
UNITE HERE Local 11 hosts weekend of events aimed at building worker, LGBT alliance
Joined by legendary activist Cleve Jones, hotel workers and their supporters celebrated Pride in Long Beach this past weekend, sponsoring a labor/LGBT coalition-building lunch and marching in the annual parade.
More than 70 UNITE HERE Local 11 members marched in Sunday’s parade, demonstrating workers’ support of the LGBT community. Marchers donned "Sleep With The Right People" t-shirts to promote the coalition of LGBT activists and UNITE HERE. The coalition was created to fight for the fair and equal treatment of all individuals.
"Sleep With The Right People is about building an important coalition between the labor movement and the LGBT rights movement," said Jones, who is the founder of the NAMES PROJECT AIDS Memorial Quilt and supporter of Sleep With The Right People. "We’re not going to get anywhere if we go it alone, and we’re not going to get anywhere if we don’t stand up and fight."
Jones hosted a luncheon on the day before the parade that brought together LGBT and labor activists from the greater Long Beach area with the goal of fostering ties between the two communities and finding opportunities to advance the cause of equal rights for all.
"This was a great step to come together to find common cause," said Sara Pollaro of Equal Roots Coalition, an organization fighting for full federal equality for all LGBTQ people. "Now more than ever LGBT and labor are united and are a force to be reckoned with."
Hotel workers also staged a picket line in front of Hyatt Regency Long Beach Sunday morning to draw attention to unsafe working conditions, low wages and unaffordable healthcare at the non-union hotel. Hyatt workers have publically called for the right to organize a union in a fair and neutral manner. The Hyatt has so far refused their request.
"This is a the perfect opportunity to show our support and commitment to winning full rights for LGBT people, while also making certain that Pride participants are aware of the brutal conditions we, the workers of this hotel, face each day," said Ben Leonen, a cook at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach.
For more information, please visit Sleepwiththerightpeople.org.