https://socialistaction.org/2018/12/07/stamford-hotel-workers-launch-union-drive/
Stamford hotel workers launch union drive
/ 23 hours ago
Dec. 2018 Hotel workers
Sheraton housekeepers lead march to the hotel on Nov. 19. (Ignacio
Laguarda / Hearst Connecticut Media)
By ERNIE GOTTA
— STAMFORD, Conn. — On Nov. 19, workers at the Sheraton Hotel here
launched a public campaign to form a union. Over 100 workers celebrated
their new union with embraces and cheers that filled the courtyard of
the St. John’s Episcopal Church as they gathered before making their way
to the hotel. Clergy, local politicians, and trade unionists joined in
support of the Sheraton workers.
The action showed strength and solidarity in the face of a day-to-day
reality that includes terrible health care, low wages, heavy workloads,
and not an ounce of respect from management. Several workers, including
Quincy, a front desk agent, noted that three of their coworkers had
strokes or heart attacks this year because of stress and working too
many hours.
The lack of respect was clearly demonstrated as General Manager Thomas
Carlos ran and hid from the delegation of workers as it entered the
building. He further demonstrated his cowardice by unleashing a wave of
captive audience meetings that often cornered housekeepers in rooms
alone, in an attempt to intimidate them from joining the union.
Union-busting lawyers from the notorious firm of Cruz and Associates are
currently trying to grind down the resolve of Sheraton workers by
holding daily meetings for groups of workers that last up to three hours.
In spite of the management’s onslaught, Sheraton workers will vote to
join the union on Dec. 13. This vote will be the culmination of months
of worker-to-worker organizing led by the Hyatt Greenwich and Hilton
Stamford workers. A whopping 80% of the Sheraton workers signed up on
union cards four days before the pubic launch.
This was no easy feat when considering that Stamford is one of the
wealthiest areas in the country. The capitalist class in “Connecticut’s
Gold Coast” dominates the economic and political landscape. Davidson,
the company that manages the Sheraton, is worth nearly $5 billion and
daily services the major corporate players that have their headquarters
in Stamford. Yet a group of brave and determined workers are set on
carving out a space to take back some of the wealth that was created on
their backs.
Sheraton workers are looking to join their union sisters and brothers
across the state who have been winning better wages, health care, and
pensions in serious contract fights. Two hotels organized by Unite Here
Local 217 have won good contracts in 2018. In recent weeks the Hartford
Hilton and New Haven Omni settled contracts with gains for the workers
that include a $20 per hour starting wage for housekeepers in Hartford
by the end of the two-year contract. A vigorous and militant
rank-and-file campaign that mobilized workers in every department of the
hotels won their demands.
At the Hilton in Stamford, workers won the union vote 110-5 on Dec. 4,
2017, but the struggle for a first contract continues.
Solidarity from NEMA members
Hotel workers were flooded with support the first week in November as
the New England Museum Association (NEMA) released a statement that it
would not renew its contract with the Hilton Stamford until a fair labor
agreement was reached.
Leading up to their conference in Stamford, NEMA members held a vigorous
debate on Twitter, using the hashtag #NEMA2018. Many presenters refused
to cross the picket line. Others canceled their hotel rooms.
NEMA presenter @RaineyTisdale tweeted, “I cancelled my @Hiltonstamford
reservation and I’m talking with my co-presenters about alternative
venues for our sessions. One of my first museum jobs was at the
AFL-CIO’s museum, and it taught me the importance of labor movements.”
After some NEMA presenters moved their panel sessions to the union hall,
the hotel lost tens of thousands of dollars in revenue.
On Nov. 7, Yrvonne Lecont, a Hilton housekeeper, and Donald Jean-Marie,
a rank-and-file member of Local 217, and bellmen at the Hyatt Greenwich
addressed an auditorium filled with NEMA conference goers. They received
thunderous applause during the keynote address. On Nov. 8, a delegation
of museum curators, with workers by their side, confronted hotel bosses
directly and demanded that the hotel sign a contract to improve the
wages, health care, and working conditions.
Reading through management responses to conference guest reviews on
Trip-Advisor.com, it is easy to see the impact of solidarity from the
conference. For example, DenizB660, manager at the Hilton Stamford Hotel
wrote, “You are one of many members of your group who believe false
Union rhetoric and would not listen to any attempts by management to
present the facts. Closed, biased minds prevent true understanding of
circumstances to which you have no knowledge whatsoever. Most of what
you have stated here is false and ultimately hurts the people you claim
to care for.”
If management responds to hotel guests in this hostile way, imagine how
they treat their workers! This type of pressure on management will go a
long way toward winning demands at the bargaining table. We ask all of
our readers in the Connecticut and New York area to keep an eye out for
upcoming picket lines and actions in Stamford. Hilton Stamford workers
deserve a great contract now!
The struggle in Stamford can also be understood in the context of union
hotel workers across the country that were striking against an all-out
offensive of hotel owners to crush the standard of living won through
decades of struggle.
Nearly all hotels in Chicago went out on strike. After three weeks,
hotel bosses were ready to come to the table and give workers guaranteed
health care during the winter months when layoffs are a reality of the
industry. Similarly, unionized Marriott workers from Boston to Hawaii
have been out on strike for weeks. Workers want their wages to reflect
living conditions in cities where they live and work.
It is not uncommon in the hotel industry for housekeepers, servers,
cooks, front-desk agents, and drivers to work more than one job. Yet the
Boston Globe reports, “Marriott is the largest and wealthiest hotel
company in the world. The company earned $22.9 billion dollars in
revenue in 2017 and has a net worth of $46.8 billion dollars almost
twice that of its nearest competitor, Hilton.”
Hotel workers know how much the Marriott profits from their labor. On
average each housekeeper making $25 per hour in a union hotel makes the
company $1 million per year. These workers service the multinational
billion-dollar companies that house their traveling execs. Still,
workers are forced to seek additional employment to make rent. The
picket lines were filled with signs reading, “One Job Should be Enough!”
These Marriott contract fights are high profile, as athletes and
celebrities are confronted with the question of crossing the picket
line. In Boston, the New York Yankees were widely derided by union
supporters for flagrantly crossing the picket line. Meanwhile, the
rapper and member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Method Man, refused to cross the
line and was praised for his solidarity.
In Boston the strike lasted six weeks until the company gave into
pressure during negotiations. In San Francisco the strike lasted nine
weeks, and the result was a $4 increase per hour in pay as well as
concrete ways to address sexual harassment.
While the strike wave has died down for now, hotel workers—like the
teachers in West Virginia, Kentucky, Arizona and elsewhere—have shown
that the strike is still a powerful tool to win demands from the bosses.
The new organizing efforts in Stamford have their finger on the pulse of
a growing working-class consciousness and confidence that will give way
to all types of openings to develop politically and independently of the
capitalist class.
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December 7, 2018 in Connecticut, Labor.
Related posts
Conference presenters stand with Stamford hotel workers in contract fight
Why Hilton housekeepers need a union
Hilton hotel workers won’t back down!
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