ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The National Labor Relations Board has filed a lawsuit in federal court, accusing the Texas owners of the Sheraton Anchorage of unfair labor practices.
For Immediate Release: National Labor Relations Board files lawsuit in federal court against Sheraton Anchorage
On December 9, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the agency that enforces the National Labor Relations Act, the federal labor law that governs most private-sector workers, filed a lawsuit in an Alaskan federal court against Texas-based Remington Lodging & Hospitality, the corporation that operates the Sheraton Hotel & Spa in Anchorage. The lawsuit stems from a long-running dispute between the Sheraton and its workers’ union, UNITE HERE Local 878. The lawsuit will be heard by Honorable Timothy Burgess in Anchorage Federal Courtroom 1 on December 29, 2011 at 1:30pm.
In its lawsuit, the NLRB asks the court to issue a preliminary injunction against the Sheraton that would require the hotel to stop violating federal labor laws and resume recognition of, and negotiations with, Local 878. This lawsuit comes less than four months after an NLRB Administrative Law Judge concluded after a 40-day hearing that the Sheraton acted unlawfully in its campaign to break the workers’ union.
If the federal court grants the injunction, the hotel will be required to return working conditions to the standards established by the long-standing union contract at the hotel. Return to these standards will be a milestone victory for the hotel’s hourly workers. They include, among other things, the reduction of workloads for housekeepers, restoration of the pre-existing (and more affordable) union medical insurance plan and resumed participation in the union pension plan. The injunction will also compel the hotel to take numerous other steps to remedy past unlawful threats and discipline imposed by the hotel against its employees.
Since 2009, Sheraton workers have been struggling to protect their benefits, their working conditions and their union from the employer’s egregious assaults. To date, this high-profile labor dispute has been marked by the filing of over 40 unfair labor practice charges, a lengthy NLRB hearing, two meritless lawsuits filed by the hotel (one against the Union, one against the NLRB itself), an ongoing boycott, frequent picket lines and an overwhelming amount of Anchorage community support. While workers feel optimistic about the injunction and the prospect of returning to the bargaining table, they want to remind the public that their struggle is not over and that they continue to ask the community to boycott the Sheraton until the dispute is resolved.
For questions or comment, please contact Dmitri Iglitzin (dl) 206.257-6003
For Immediate Release
December 14, 2011
Contact: Dmitri Iglitzin, Counsel
(direct line) 206.257-6003
National Labor Relations Board files lawsuit in federal court against Sheraton Anchorage
On December 9, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the agency that enforces the National Labor Relations Act, the federal labor law that governs most private-sector workers, filed a lawsuit in an Alaskan federal court against Texas-based Remington Lodging & Hospitality, the corporation that operates the Sheraton Hotel & Spa in Anchorage. The lawsuit stems from a long-running dispute between the Sheraton and its workers’ union, UNITE HERE Local 878. The lawsuit will be heard by Honorable Timothy Burgess in Anchorage Federal Courtroom 1 on December 29, 2011 at 1:30pm.
In its lawsuit, the NLRB asks the court to issue a preliminary injunction against the Sheraton that would require the hotel to stop violating federal labor laws and resume recognition of, and negotiations with, Local 878. This lawsuit comes less than four months after an NLRB Administrative Law Judge concluded after a 40-day hearing that the Sheraton acted unlawfully in its campaign to break the workers’ union.
If the federal court grants the injunction, the hotel will be required to return working conditions to the standards established by the long-standing union contract at the hotel. Return to these standards will be a milestone victory for the hotel’s hourly workers. They include, among other things, the reduction of workloads for housekeepers, restoration of the pre-existing (and more affordable) union medical insurance plan and resumed participation in the union pension plan. The injunction will also compel the hotel to take numerous other steps to remedy past unlawful threats and discipline imposed by the hotel against its employees.
For Immediate Release
December 14, 2011
Contact: Dmitri Iglitzin, Counsel
(direct line) 206.257-6003
National Labor Relations Board files lawsuit in federal court against Sheraton Anchorage
On December 9, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the agency that enforces the National Labor Relations Act, the federal labor law that governs most private-sector workers, filed a lawsuit in an Alaskan federal court against Texas-based Remington Lodging & Hospitality, the corporation that operates the Sheraton Hotel & Spa in Anchorage. The lawsuit stems from a long-running dispute between the Sheraton and its workers’ union, UNITE HERE Local 878. The lawsuit will be heard by Honorable Timothy Burgess in Anchorage Federal Courtroom 1 on December 29, 2011 at 1:30pm.
In its lawsuit, the NLRB asks the court to issue a preliminary injunction against the Sheraton that would require the hotel to stop violating federal labor laws and resume recognition of, and negotiations with, Local 878. This lawsuit comes less than four months after an NLRB Administrative Law Judge concluded after a 40-day hearing that the Sheraton acted unlawfully in its campaign to break the workers’ union.
If the federal court grants the injunction, the hotel will be required to return working conditions to the standards established by the long-standing union contract at the hotel. Return to these standards will be a milestone victory for the hotel’s hourly workers. They include, among other things, the reduction of workloads for housekeepers, restoration of the pre-existing (and more affordable) union medical insurance plan and resumed participation in the union pension plan. The injunction will also compel the hotel to take numerous other steps to remedy past unlawful threats and discipline imposed by the hotel against its employees.
Since 2009, Sheraton workers have been struggling to protect their benefits, their working conditions and their union from the employer’s egregious assaults. To date, this high-profile labor dispute has been marked by the filing of over 40 unfair labor practice charges, a lengthy NLRB hearing, two meritless lawsuits filed by the hotel (one against the Union, one against the NLRB itself), an ongoing boycott, frequent picket lines and an overwhelming amount of Anchorage community support. While workers feel optimistic about the injunction and the prospect of returning to the bargaining table, they want to remind the public that their struggle is not over and that they continue to ask the community to boycott the Sheraton until the dispute is resolved.
For questions or comment, please contact Dmitri Iglitzin (dl) 206.257-6003
Since 2009, Sheraton workers have been struggling to protect their benefits, their working conditions and their union from the employer’s egregious assaults. To date, this high-profile labor dispute has been marked by the filing of over 40 unfair labor practice charges, a lengthy NLRB hearing, two meritless lawsuits filed by the hotel (one against the Union, one against the NLRB itself), an ongoing boycott, frequent picket lines and an overwhelming amount of Anchorage community support. While workers feel optimistic about the injunction and the prospect of returning to the bargaining table, they want to remind the public that their struggle is not over and that they continue to ask the community to boycott the Sheraton until the dispute is resolved.
For questions or comment, please contact Dmitri Iglitzin (dl) 206.257-6003
November 4, 2011 – Activists from Occupy Anchorage joined dozens of hotel workers and community supporters on the picket line outside the Sheraton Anchorage hotel. They stood together to remind greedy corporations, like the Texas based 1%ers that own and operate the Sheraton, that the 99% will not tolerate abuses of workers rights in Alaska.
Recently, an Administrative Law Judge with the National Labor Relations Board found that Sheraton managers had unlawfully coerced, threatened and terminated union activists. Furthermore, the Judge found that Sheraton management unlawfully stopped recognizing the workers’ union at the hotel. While Sheraton management attempts to appeal the judge’s decision, workers continue their struggle to restore fair working conditions and their union rights.
Workers continue to ask the public to boycott their hotel and to date, dozens of Alaskan organizations have supported their requests by moving their business from the Sheraton to other Anchorage area hotels.
More information on the Sheraton struggle at: http://www.unitehere878.org/boycott-advisory/sheraton-anchorage/
Several speakers focused on the boycott of the Sheraton and Hilton, including Native Rights activist Desa Jacobbson.
“That is no way for an Alaskan worker to be treated, and Alaska will not stand for it because it’s uncivilized,” Jacobbson said.
On October 20, a delegation of Hilton Housekeepers visited the office of the hotel general manager and made their demands clear. “We want fair workloads” one housekeeper said, “we are overworked and many of us have pain in our backs, wrists and knees.” another worker explained. Midway through the delegation, one participant unveiled a letter signed by over 95% of the workers in the housekeeping department. The letter was addressed to the General Manager and the owner of the hotel and echoed their workload concerns.
Columbia-Sussex acquired the 600 room Anchorage Hilton in early 2006. Since the union contract expired in 2008, Columbia-Sussex has taken significant steps to compromise the long-held work standards at the hotel. Workers have had to endure over three years of wage freezes, workload increases and a refusal to pay necessary costs to keep healthcare affordable for the workers. Furthermore, in the July of 2010 the National Labor Relations board filed official complaints against the hotel alleging unlawful behavior – a month later Columbia-Sussex agreed to settle the charges.
In the last four years, workers have taken bold steps to defend their working conditions at the hotel. In the Spring of 2009, over 80% of workers took the bold step of signing a petition that announced that they would call on the public to honor a boycott of their hotel. Today, that boycott remains in effect.