https://socialistaction.org/2018/11/13/conference-presenters-stand-with-stamford-hotel-workers-in-contract-fight/
Conference presenters stand with Stamford hotel workers in contract fight
/ 1 hour ago
Dec. 2018 Stamford NEMA delegation
NEMA presenter and workers lead a delegation to Hilton hotel management
in Stamford, Conn., on Nov. 8. (Photo: Azulita Cielo)
By ERNIE GOTTA
Union hotel workers across the country are fighting and striking against
an all-out offensive of hotel owners to crush the standard of living won
through decades of struggle.
In Chicago nearly all hotels in the city 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 the living conditions in the 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. Daily these workers service the
multinational billion dollar companies that house their traveling execs.
Still, workers are forced to seek additional employment to make rent—and
they’ve had enough. 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. Meanwhile, the rapper and
member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Method Man, refused to cross the picket line
and was praised for his solidarity.
Similarly, Connecticut hotel workers have been on the picket line
demanding better wages, health care, and pensions. Three hotels
organized by Unite Here Local 217 have been fighting for good contracts
in 2018. In recent weeks, two of the hotels, the Hartford Hilton and New
Haven Omni, settled contracts with gains for the workers in health care
and wages. A vigorous and militant rank-and-file campaign that mobilized
workers in every department of the hotel won their demands.
In Stamford, after winning the union vote 110-5 on Dec. 4, 2017, the
struggle for a first contract at the Hilton hotel continues. 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 the conference there was a vigorous debate on Twitter
among NEMA members 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.”
Pampi, who uses the handle @ThirdEyeFell, was one presenter who moved
off site to the union hall. Pampi tweeted, “Organizers of ‘Protest of
Power: when the people curate’ have moved panel to @unitehere217 union
hall Thu 2:45-4:15. As culture workers for labor justice we stand with
workers where @NEMAnet holding #nema2018 conference #supportstrike
#dontbreakpicket #boycotthilton.”
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
TripAdvisor.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!
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November 13, 2018 in Connecticut, Labor.
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_________________________________________________________________
Isaac Asimov
“Don't you believe in flying saucers, they ask me? Don't you believe in
telepathy? — in ancient astronauts? — in the Bermuda triangle? — in life after
death?
No, I reply. No, no, no, no, and again no.
One person recently, goaded into desperation by the litany of unrelieved negation, burst
out "Don't you believe in anything?"
Yes", I said. "I believe in evidence. I believe in observation, measurement,
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wild and ridiculous, if there is evidence for it. The wilder and more ridiculous
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― Isaac Asimov
