Union complaint leads to hearing with judge
The National Labor Relations Board has decided that charges filed by a union against a local hotel have merit and will be addressed by a judge.
The charges — which were filed by the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union Local 11 in April — allege that managers from the Doubletree Guest Suites Hotel forbade employees from wearing buttons in support of organized labor.
An administrative judge is scheduled to try the case Aug. 11. Either side can then appeal the judge’s ruling to the actual NLRB.
The NLRB is an arm of the federal government that investigates labor law violations.
Problems began when Rafael Salmeron, the hotel’s executive housekeeper, allegedly told employees in February and April that it was against the rules to wear union buttons, according to the complaint.
Kurt Petersen, organizing director for the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union Local 11, said Doubletree managers told employees to either remove the pins or clock out and go home.
“Basically they’ve threatened people with their jobs,” he said. “It’s not about the button, it’s about respecting people’s opinions. It’s about being able to voice your opinion without fearing a reprisal.”
“It’s about being able to voice your opinion without fearing a reprisal.” — — KURT PETERSEN Organizing director, hotel employees union
But Francois Khoury, general manager of the Doubletree, located at 1707 Fourth Street, said he doubts the charges will hold up. He said the vast majority of Doubletree workers do not want to be organized and accused the union of filing frivolous charges against the hotel and issuing slanted press releases.
5E7,“The union’s motives are transparent as it requests neutrality — the union’s code word for a one-way gag rule intended to prevent the employees from learning the facts,” he said.
Khoury said this is the fourth time the union has filed this type of charge with no success to date.
Spillane said Tuesday the details of the other three cases were not immediately available. But she said the board feels there is enough merit to try the hotel on the new charges.
Petersen said comparing the new complaint to the other charges in unfair. While the other charges were settled, this is the first time the matter will be heard by an administrative judge, he said.
“The company refuses to allow people to wear a button,” he said. “And the difference this time is that the federal government is prosecuting them.”
Union officials are pushing for organized labor at both the Doubletree and the Four Points Sheraton Hotel, 530 Pico Blvd. Currently, only two hotels are unionized — the Viceroy, which sits on city property at 1819 Ocean Ave., and the Fairmont Miramar, 101 Wilshire Blvd. A card-check election, where employees can cast their vote for or against a union over a series of months, is currently underway at Loew’s Hotel, 1700 Ocean Ave.
- Francois Khoury
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 16, 2003. Read the original PDF.