Voices from the picket line
Victor Joya, a bartender, had
worked at Madison for four years at the restaurant Palette which has been
closed. He showed up to work the day the new owners took over, changed into his
uniform and went to his station. He was then told he no longer had a job. He
was given three options, to reapply for his job or another one in the hotel,
look for another job elsewhere or apply for unemployment.
Joya had to go through three
interviews, each time being told they would call him. HR also requested copies
of his green card, even though all of his paperwork was already on file.
Finally, he was told there are no positions available, and that he was not
qualified, despite having been a bartender at the hotel for four years, and 15
years prior experience at other restaurants. Joya called the whole process
“humiliating, discriminating and disrespectful.” He is currently on
unemployment.
Since several housekeepers are
among the 27 who have lost their jobs, those remaining have had additional
rooms to clean. Isabel Bautista, 62, employed at Madison for 16 years and shop
steward for over 3 years said,
“We have extra work but they don’t recognize our contract.” She
added, “This is a serious struggle for respect.” Management has also not
placed as many workers on the schedule, which is another way for them to cut
costs.
Marlena Padilla works in the
laundry department, employed at Madison for 38 years, said that management now
wants a closed ballot, “Cooks, stewards, many are out of work. For us
that are employed they say everything is okay but I don’t know [about my job
security]. I could be next.”
Many workers from other hotels in D.C have been joining Madison workers on
the picket line in solidarity. Gamini from the Marriot at Warden Park has been
supporting the Madison workers. He called it “Monkey see, monkey do … What
they plan to do here (Madison) they will do there.”
Jackie
Dye also from the Marriot at Warden Park said she is out here because “Unions
stick together … Whatever happens here can happen at my hotel. It’s a domino
effect.”
UNITE HERE Local
25, which represents 125 workers at the Madison Hotel in Washington D.C., has
militantly taken to the picket line since Jan. 31, after the Madison’s new
owners threw out the existing contract. Workers were fired without notice and
told they had to reapply for their jobs. Some of the workers have been with the
hotel for decades. Of those who have been retained, many have been given
additional work. A total of 27 workers were fired, all workers of color.
Members of the
Party for Socialism and Liberation and the ANSWER Coalition have joined Local
25 in picketing, which is taking place every weekday from 7am to 7pm and from
7am to 4pm on weekends. This will continue however long it takes until a fair
contract is reached and the workers who lost their jobs are rehired. Union
officials have stated a strike is not off the table.
Jamestown
Properties, which is based out of Germany, became the new owner of the hotel on Jan. 19 and Destination
Hotels & Resorts is managing the hotel. Leading up to the changeover date,
workers were feeling anxious about the change but were reassured by management
that things would remain the same and they did not have to worry about their
jobs.
Just 11 days later, after the new ownership took effect,the workers were
out on the picket line as negotiations between the union and management were
going nowhere. The union has since had other meetings during which the bosses
told the union they want a better contract for management. Management refuses
to rescind changes that have been imposed in violation of the contract.
The union is helping all those who did not get
their jobs back to receive temporary work at other unionized hotels, but the
ultimate goal is get them rehired at the Madison.
In the spirit of “an injury to one is an injury to all”
All the union hotels in D.C. along with a few in Virginia
and the Gaylord in Maryland are all under Local 25 and under the same contract.
What happens at the Madison will affect all other
union hotels in D.C. because of a clause known as as “most favored nations.”
The clause states that, should one of the hotels sign a different contract, or a new hotel were to
unionize under a different contract, all the other unionized hotels have the
option to take that new contract whether it is better or worse for the workers.
There would be no new negotiations; the union would be notified and the new
contract would be effective immediately. Their contract is with the Hotel Association
of D.C. The bosses have the same attorney and they all come to the main
negotiation table.
New tactics
Besides continuing the picket line daily the union has called a
boycott by asking guests of the hotel to “Check out and stay at another union
hotel in D.C.”
They are also employing a campaign to get large businesses and
associations to not do business with the Madison while there is a contract
dispute. The hotel usually makes a few million or more a year in banquet sales.
Many unions have held conferences there in the past and are currently refusing
to hold any events at the Madison. They are telling union members to boycott
the hotel as well.
The
National Education Association canceled two weeks’ worth of bookings costing
the hotel $350,000. “We have a policy against crossing picket
lines,” said NEA spokesman Andrew Linebaugh. (Washington Post) Several
other labor organizations, including the International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers and National Football League Players Association, have
joined in the boycott.
Union
officials stated that so far, three
weeks into the boycott, the hotel has lost $1.2 million in contracts.
Rooms that are normally $400 a night are now being offered at a 20 percent discount,
with further reductions on sites like Expedia.com.
While
these are positive developments, it has yet to be seen whether or not this will
turn into an effective weapon. While the Madison ownership has already lost a
great sum of money and stands to lose much more the longer the picket goes on,
they have a vast holding of other hotels and are probably measuring the losses
at this one hotel against all the others. Jamestown Properties is an
international company and their subsidiary company Destination Hotel and
Resorts has over 30 luxury hotel and resorts in the United States with one
other hotel in the DC area.
The recent concentration of capital in the United States in the hotel/hospitality
industry in the past couple of decades has given the bosses more leverage. For
instance, the Mariott hotels own 17 different brands in the United States and
internationally. This makes it all the more important for the workers
to stand strong and to employ all possible tactics, including strikes, sit-ins
and takeovers.
Solidarity among different unions,
from workers at different places of employment and from the community is
necessary to counter the attacks by the bosses. The success of strategy and
tactics should be measured, not only by the concessions won from the bosses,
but by the degree to which they expand workers’ solidarity inside and outside
unions.
The ability of communists to join in
and help lead these struggles can make a decisive contribution to revitalize
the labor movement and turn around the bosses’ nearly three-decade anti-labor
offensive.
