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Major development announced in Latham hotel strike

Mike Roberts

In an important new development, workers striking at the Holiday Inn Express in Latham are on the verge of a significant victory, Albany District director Mike Roberts announced. (Further developments will be posted here as they occur and the next Reflections will carry complete details and photos.)

If the anticipated settlement goes forward, Roberts said the workers fired by the hotel will win full back pay; reinstatement; counting of challenged ballots and a re-run union election if necessary; and the posting of a notice in the workplace detailing a lengthy list of violations that the company will refrain from. The agreement would be between the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the hotel and Local 471.

Roberts said such an agreement would be a “major achievement for the strikers, for our Union and for all of the countless labor, political and community leaders who supported this righteous cause under very trying circumstance for 280 days. I can’t think of a more powerful example of what unshakable solidarity means and why workers so desperately need unions.”

The NLRB had charged the hotel with illegally firing nearly 50% of the union’s organizing committee for exercising their legally protected right to form a union. In addition to the firings, the NLRB’s investigation cited other unlawful behavior, including spying on union meetings, interrogating workers about union support, and using other threats and coercion to restrict workers' rights to organize.

Roberts stressed that while workers like the ones at the Latham hotel have a right to organize, “Employers routinely thumb their nose at these laws because the penalties currently in place are so weak. The Latham situation shows the great need to pass labor law reform, such as the Employee Free Choice Act, that will prevent employers from intimidating workers who want to organize a union.”

Congressman Scott Murphy, one of the strikers many supporters, echoed that sentiment, emphasizing, “We must join together and ensure that the men and women who work hard to drive our economy are not subject to clear violations of their rights as workers.” (For insights into why organizing is so difficult, check out “Must Read Articles for Joint Board Members” below and follow the links.)

For Albany area media reports on this story, click on these links:

Channel 9 (6PM and 10PM News)
http://capitalnews9.com/all-regions-news-2131-content/top_stories/494554/fired-workers-get-their-jobs-back

Channel 10 (6PM and 10PM News)
http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S1390672.shtml?cat=300

Times Union (Print)
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=894372

Times Union (Blog)
http://blog.timesunion.com/business/hotel-and-union-reach-settlement-on-holiday-inn-worker-case/17451/

Schenectady Gazette (Print)
http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2010/jan/29/rally_0129/

“This is one of the reasons why we had to disaffiliate from UNITE HERE.  The UNITE side ( WORKERS UNITED ) tried to end this malicious practice but Wilhelm’s cult would not listen.” 

Gary Bonadonna December 2009

Current and former UNITE HERE organizers are speaking out about what they say is the long standing practice of UNITE HERE officials pressuring subordinates to disclose very personal information about themselves, known as “pink sheeting”.

“It’s extremely cultlike and extremely manipulative.” said Amelia Frank-Vitale, Yale graduate and former hotel union organizer. She stated these practices drove her to seek therapy.

Embattled current chief of UNITE HERE John Wilhelm condemned pink sheeting but did not deny his organization’s use of such demeaning practices in the past.

                   Click Here to read the complete New York Times story -->

NLRB repeatedly upholds representation rights

Workers United has now won every National Labor Relations Board case in its representational fight with UNITE HERE — 11 straight victories to date, Joint Board manager Gary Bonadonna announced.

Those NLRB actions are a stunning blow to John Wilhelm, the head of UNITE HERE, who had flooded many employers with threatening letters trying to force them not to negotiate with the new Workers United union and to escrow worker’s dues. Wilhelm’s tactics came after 150,000 workers voted to disaffiliate from UNITE HERE and form Workers United.

In all the NLRB cases to date, Workers United or it’s affiliates have been affirmed as the rightful representatives for the workers involved. No NLRB decisions have sided with UNITE HERE.

“Must Read” Articles for Joint Board Members

The Joint Board is conducting an organizing drive at the Albany Airport Holiday Inn Express. That drive, and the obstacles it faces, is a clear example of what is wrong with U.S. labor law and with the National Labor Relations Board. Acclaimed labor and organizing expert Richard Bensinger, who is working extensively with the Joint Board, has written two articles detailing the hurdles the Joint Board faces in Latham and that all unions face in their organizing efforts. These two articles are “must reads” for Joint Board members who want to understand why organizing efforts in America are so difficult. To read “When a Democracy Isn’t a Democracy,” click here; To read “Albany Stike,” click here.