On May 13, labor, community, and congressional leaders gathered at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters headquarters in Washington, DC, for the premier screening of Show us the Tax Breaks and a discussion on strategies for bringing about a real and just economic recovery.

Show us the Tax Breaks, a short documentary film produced by UNITE HERE, tells the story of how the Pritzker family’s Union Tank Car company gathered taxpayer subsidies while destroying good, family-sustaining jobs in Northwest Indiana.

In his remarks at the premiere, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said, "There are some companies that profit from practices that get in the way of economic recovery," he said in reference to Union Tank Car’s abuse of economic development subsidies. "President Obama and most congressional leaders understand that good, middle class jobs are the key to a strong economy, but it’s our job to remind them every day of this truth, because every day they’re faced with opposition from business leaders who profit from the status quo."

President Newton Jones of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and UNITE HERE president John Wilhelm spoke on the panel as well. In noting that Hyatt-branded hotels have collected over $1.5 billion in taxpayer bonds, subsidizes loans, and other incentives, John Wilhelm said that "as we’ve seen with both Union Tank Car and Hyatt Hotels, Pritzker-owned businesses have collected millions of dollars in subsidies while driving down standards for their workers. We should not be rewarding these practices by providing such companies with public subsidies."

Kelly Hounshell, who had worked at Union Tank Car’s East Chicago plant for 22 years and served as president of IBB Local 524 when the plant closed, said in his remarks that "I don’t want to see more companies taking advantage of their workers and their communities like Union Tank Car did to us."

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) noted that the personal stories presented in Show us the Tax Breaks told the "real story of what is happening to American workers when companies abuse the tax code."

Show us the Tax Breaks is available on-line at www.showusthetaxbreaks.org and will be shown again soon as part of on-going discussions with key legislators and community leaders about the importance of transparency and accountability in state and federal tax subsidies for businesses.

On Wednesday, May 12, at a ceremony attended by retired ILGWU members and their families, the Retired Officers of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ROI) became a chartered retiree association of UNITE HERE.

The Retired Officers of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union organization is composed of over 300 members, approximately 200 who live in the Greater New York area. Most ROI members are in their 90’s and were involved in the founding struggles of the American Labor Movement in the 1930’s.

The group was addressed by UNITE HERE President John Wilhelm, UNITE HERE New England Joint Board Manager Warren Pepicelli, ROI Chairman Emanuel Leventhal, and ROI members including Jean Dubinsky Appleton, daughter of legendary ILGWU leader David Dubinsky.

UNITE HERE President John Wilhelm noted, "We are so proud to have the Retired Officers of the ILGWU as part of our Union. We cannot move forward without recognizing the history of the labor movement, a history this group was such an important part of. The members of the ROI helped build our Union and we are honored to learn from them and to involve them in the work of UNITE HERE."

On April 17, UNITE HERE Local 355 members kicked off the 2010 "Sleep With the Right People" campaign at the 2nd Annual Miami Beach Pride Festival. The festival was a huge success, with event organizers estimating over 20,000 in attendance. Hundreds of event participants signed pledge cards and wore stickers declaring their commitment to workers and the LGBT community.

Local 355 member Gregg P. McEllin, a banquet server at the Fontainebleau Hotel, was excited to be a part of the effort. "Every person I met was proud to see our union collaborating with the LGBT community through the Sleep With the Right People campaign. And I was especially proud that so many in the LGBT community are pledging to say no to anti-worker hotels."

Over 25 UNITE HERE locals are participating in PRIDE events this spring and summer. To read more about the campaign, go to www.sleepwiththerightpeople.org.

On April 7, over 300 South Florida workers and community supporters convened for the largest rally to ever take place on Miami International Airport property. With the rally situated directly outside Concourse E at the center of the airport, workers and supporters were met with hundreds of friendly honks, waves and thumbs-up from passengers making their way to the terminal. The event was conducted as part of a national effort to bring to light worksite conditions and the workers’ efforts to bargain a meaningful contract for thousands who work in catering and food service for industry giants like LSG Sky Chefs, Gate Gourmet and the Delaware North Companies.

Though negotiations have been under way since last year, workers at the rally were angry about what they perceive as the company’s disrespect. Cruz Pena has worked at Sky Chefs-MIA since the 1980’s. Despite being a loyal worker, she has seen her wages and benefits go down. "I have come in day in, day out to do the best job I can for Sky Chefs. I agreed to cut my wages and benefits to keep the company moving when they asked. Unfortunately, they still haven’t put an offer on the table that shows they recognize the sacrifice we made for them," said Pena.

At the rally, catering and food service workers were joined by AFGE workers seeking to organize TSA jobs at the airport. Community supporters ranged from Interfaith Worker Justice to groups like the Jobs With Justice and the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Coalition. Fred Frost, the President of the South Florida AFL-CIO, also joined in the rally with supporters from a variety of airport unions. Television crews from three local news stations and a professional photographer from Getty Images documented the event, noting the tremendous size of the event. Feeling momentum from this historic event, workers see hope as the fight continues."At the end of the day, we wanted to do this rally to provide the South Florida travelers and visitors with information about our worksites and why we deserve fair wages, affordable health insurance, and safe jobs," said Winston Garvey, a worker and Shop Steward at Sky Chefs Miami. "We think we got our message across to the public, now we take it to the companies," added Garvey.

(April 7, 2010, San Francisco) – Hotel workers at the Hilton San Francisco walked off the job this morning, announcing a three-day strike in support of their efforts to negotiate a contract with the giant 1900 room hotel. Approximately 850 workers are participating in the strike, which began at 4:00 a.m. Wednesday, and will last until the first shift on Saturday morning. The striking workers are members of UNITE HERE Local 2, and include room cleaners, dishwashers, cooks, bellpersons, food servers, and others.

The work stoppage comes nearly eight months after contracts covering Hilton workers as well as eight thousand other San Francisco hotel workers expired. On January 5, during a demonstration that included 140 arrests in non-violent civil disobedience, workers at the Hilton called on customers to boycott their hotel. Despite mounting pressure from hotel workers, the Hilton Corporation has continued to press for a contract that would slash health coverage and retirement benefits, and would increase workloads.

"For months now we’ve been sending the message that we’re not going to let this company squeeze us any harder," said Ringo Mak, a twenty-year food server at the Hilton. "By walking out today, we’re showing Hilton just how committed we are, and we’re reminding customers that they should find another hotel to stay."

The Hilton San Francisco is owned and operated by the Blackstone Group [NYSE: BX], which bought the Hilton Hotel chain in 2006 for $26 billion. Blackstone manages approximately $100 billion in assets, including Hilton, and recently reported having about $28 billion in available cash.

In addition to the Hilton, six other San Francisco hotels are under worker-called boycotts: the Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf, W Hotel, Westin St. Francis, Palace Hotel, and Le Meridièn. Members of UNITE HERE Local 2 continue to communicate with customers of these hotels urging them to move their business elsewhere. The Hilton strike is the fourth such strike since November.

UNITE HERE Local 2 is the union of hotel and food service workers in San Francisco and San Mateo Counties. It represents about 12,000 workers in the hospitality industry. For more information, visit www.unitehere2.org.

On March 25th, hotel workers told Columbia Sussex Corporation that they are tired of paying for the company’s debt and want a fair process to organize a union at rallies around the country. Hotel workers called on customers to boycott 8 hotels owned by the company, according to UNITE HERE, the hotel workers union.

In Washington, DC, hotel workers and community supporters rallied outside the Westin City Center. "All workers must have the right to organize," declared DC City Councilmember Phil Mendelson, who then led a chant of "Boycott! Boycott!" at the Thursday demonstration. "A decent hotel must treat its workers decently," Mendelson said, promising to carry the protestors’ message "back to my Council colleagues for more support." Sheraton City Center banquet server Karl Taylor was one of a busload of Baltimore hotel workers who made the trip "to support our brothers and sisters" at the Westin in DC. Columbia-Sussex owns both hotels, as well as others in Chicago and San Diego, where the boycott was also launched. “The union gives us a voice," Taylor said as more than 100 picketers chanted "Don’t check in, check out" behind him. "

Columbia Sussex hotels in Northern Virginia, Sacramento and Alaska are already being boycotted. While Taylor and his fellow-workers in Baltimore already have a union, he said they support the Westin workers "who have been slammed with cuts and increased workloads" and want to form a union.

After hotel workers from Baltimore and Northern Virginia declared their support for the Westin workers, Metro Labor Council President Jos Williams wrapped up the rally by saying "This is a union city; if you’re non-union we have no place for you in the nation’s capital." Adding that Columbia-Sussex "now has a tri-state fight on their hands" Williams vowed that the metro-area labor movement would "stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you as long as it takes!"

– Credits: Chris Garlock; photos by Adam Wright, Metro Washington Council’s Union City!

On Friday, March 26th, a new contract was ratified by UNITE HERE members at the AJ Wright distribution center in Fall River, MA. Members of the New England Joint Board of UNITE HERE ratified the contract by a 93% margin.

The new AJ Wright contract came after months of solidarity actions among the 700 Fall River workers as well as actions with distribution center workers in other plants owned by TJX Corporation in the New England Area. UNITE HERE New England Joint Board members at AJ Wright join their brothers and sisters at the TJ Maxx distribution center in Worcester who won a new contract in February. Both groups of workers are continuing to support workers at other TJX-owned distribution centers that are still fighting for new contracts.

The new contract for AJ Wright workers in Fall River includes many important victories including a stop to mandatory overtime, improvements in wages and the protection of affordable health benefits, and major improvements in contract language giving distribution center workers a voice on the job.

Hundreds of members of UNITE HERE Local 804 held a contract convention on Thursday, March 25, the day before they began contract negotiations. Local 804 represents over 900 food service workers who proudly serve our military at Ft. Benning in Columbus, Georgia.

Over 500 Local 804 members and supporters met together to prepare for contract negotiations that began on March 26th. Local 804 members discussed contract negotiation goals and proposals including improved wages and pension benefits, protection of medical benefits, and respect on the job.

Community leaders who attended the convention in support of Local 804 members included Pastor Barbara Sheppard (Words of Wisdom Christian Center Inc,), Pastor Lowell Cliatt (Seeds of Faith Baptist Church), Community Leaders Evelyn Turner Pugh (Deputy Mayor of Columbus) and Zeph Baker (Mayoral Candidate), Reginald Pugh (President/CEO Urban League of Columbus), Richard Ray (GA AFL-CIO President), and Union Leaders Jody Davis, Brian King, Dexter Smith, David Pilgrem, Chuck Herndon and Chip Hughes.

HMS Host workers at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) overwhelmingly ratified a new contract Monday by a vote of 99%. The new contract, which covers over 800 workers, preserves free family healthcare and gives significant wage increases to all bargaining unit members, setting a new standard for concessions workers at LAX.

The worker negotiating committee made up of members of UNITE HERE Local 11 reached tentative agreement at midnight last Thursday after two days of round-the-clock bargaining culminating negotiations which began in October 2009. The final round followed a tense couple of weeks during which workers had buttoned up throughout the airport and held large worker delegations to management in multiple terminals.

"I feel very proud of what we have accomplished," said 18-year Host Lead Keila Cabrera. "It was difficult to explain to my family where I’ve been for the past two nights, but all the time and organizing work we all put into this is an investment in the next three years of our lives. With this great contract we can see that it was worth it!"

Host employees won wage increases of up to $1.65 per hour over the life of the three-year agreement on top of substantial increases to the health and welfare fund, pension fund and the union’s training fund. Workers also won an additional 7 months of medical leave time, an additional 6 months recall time, improved vacation selection language, and language insuring that the company will provide the appropriate safety mats and free shoes.

In addition to across-the-board increases, tipped workers won that the company will now recommend in writing a 15% gratuity in their fine dining venues, a policy which tipped workers expect will increase their income with foreign travelers. "This was the icing on the cake for tipped workers," said Debra Lewis, a 26-year server and Shop Steward. "Nobody thought we could ever win this but we organized, stayed strong and we did it!"

Las Vegas, NV–In two demonstrations on March 11, over 1,500 members from the Culinary Workers Union, Local 226 and Bartenders Union, Local 165 from Las Vegas Strip and Downtown casinos joined workers from Station Casinos who want a fair process to decide whether to form a union without management interference. Workers outraged by the company’s treatment of workers and decision to wage a vicious, anti-union campaign, picketed in front of one of the company’s ten large Las Vegas casinos.

The unions have filed Unfair Labor Practice charges against the company with the National Labor Relations Board alleging Station Casinos has broken federal labor law in over 100 incidences by using threats, harassment, surveillance, physical assaults, retaliatory warnings , suspensions, and firings as part of an illegal campaign to stop workers from forming a union.

Station Casinos, with over 13,000 employees, is the third largest private employer in the Las Vegas Valley. Workers from the company’s ten large casinos, which cater to locals, formed a union organizing committee in mid-February and soon after returned to work wearing their union committee leader buttons and began talking to their co-workers about forming a union. The company’s aggressive and hostile union campaign has only fortified the workers’ resolve and outraged members of the Culinary and Bartenders unions who, along with their friends and families, make up a good portion of the company’s local customer base.

Since a management-led buyout in November 2007 that paid Station Casinos insiders $660 million, the company has subcontracted out its PBX, coffee shops, and uniform departments to outside operators. Hundreds of workers have lost their jobs with the company as a result. The company has also cut hours, made permanent layoffs, suspended the workers 401(k) match, and raised employees’ health insurance premiums.

Saddled with a large debt load from the buyout, the company filed for bankruptcy on July 28, 2009.

Click here to watch the video. To learn more about the campaign please visit www.workerstation.org.