Dive Brief:
- Last week, hospitality workers’ union Unite Here launched a website to share information about alleged disrespect, intimidation and poor working conditions at two Accor-operated properties, according to a release obtained by Hotel Dive.
- The website includes testimonials from hotel workers at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn, a luxury resort in California’s Sonoma Wine Country, and the Sofitel Washington DC Lafayette Square, both owned by the French hotel company. It also includes suggested language for events contracts that would protect event organizers from penalties in the case of cancellation over a labor dispute.
- Workers at both hotels are organizing to join Unite Here, the country’s largest union of hospitality workers. Hotel union activity has heightened across the country in recent months, and union workers in Southern California may soon commence the largest hotel worker strike in history.
Dive Insight:
In May, workers at Sofitel Washington DC Lafayette Square held a rally with U.S. Representatives Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Bennie Thompson (D-MS) to protest alleged union-busting at the hotel. Workers accused the company of holding mandatory “anti-union meetings,” as well as changing the work schedule of an employee after organizing.
“The website is the next step we wanted to take to make sure the public is aware that workers want a fair process to decide on unionization, without intimidation, threats or bribes,” Unite Here Secretary-Treasurer Gwen Mills told Hotel Dive.
Meanwhile, workers at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn have been organizing to join Unite Here since the fall of 2022, according to Mills. In May, a National Labor Relations Board investigation found evidence sufficient to prosecute 43 labor law violations at the property, including evidence that hotel management had threatened workers for organizing, illegally interrogated employees about their union activities and illegally promised benefits to workers if they rejected the union, Mills said.
Since the investigation, the Fairmont has agreed to refrain from further violations, as well as grant the union equal meeting time if the hotel continues to hold its own meetings about unionization. “We’re watching the employer closely to ensure compliance with the settlement,” Mills said.
AccorHotelAlert.org features worker testimonies from both hotels. “In 2021 I hurt my back while lifting probably twenty-five cases of drinks,” said Tony Arguello, a banquet bartender who has spent 10 years at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn. “It was an acute muscle pull and tear. For five months I couldn’t lift or stand for prolonged periods. I’m still in pain to this day.”
Francisco Rivas, an engineer who has been with Sofitel Washington DC for 19 years, is included as saying: “We don’t have anyone right now who works overnight for emergencies. If my managers call me to come in for an emergency, I have to go in and help, even if it’s late or my day off.”
Unite Here-represented workers have been busy in California. In addition to voting 96% in favor of authorizing a strike, the union’s chapter in Southern California also recently held a rally that stopped traffic for three hours around Los Angeles International Airport. Three hundred people, including two Los Angeles City Council members, were arrested during the demonstration.
Accor did not respond to Hotel Dive’s request for comment.
