The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: Freeper on April 07, 2013, 08:52:22 AM
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nadinbrzezinski (118,243 posts)
The San Diego Nine: Some Background.
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Alma Romero, Striker and Leader.
April 13, 2013 (San Diego)— Why are workers at not just the San Diego Mission Valley Hilton going on strike, or fighting for better working conditions? Today I learned, that this is a larger fight, and includes the La Jolla Hilton.
I had the chance to sit down with Alma Romero, who is not just one of the huger strikers, but also one of the Union organizing effort. According to Romero, “this campaign started a year ago.†It was not accidental.
Working conditions at the hotel have deteriorated over the years, with an environment of fear enveloping the work place. Moreover, workers do not feel they are being treated in a humane way.
For example, House keepers who work for the hotel, “are offered at most three days a week of work,†while employees that the hotel hires through an agency get upwards of six days and better pay. House keepers get eight dollars an hour, while the contracted labor gets paid nine.
It gets worst, Romero said that “they are not documented workers.â€
There is quite a bit of verbal abuse of workers, they have no benefits, such as medical insurance.
The campaign started when HEI was the hotel owner. We need to explain that just because a hotel says Marriot or Westin outside, they are not necessarily the owners, but licensees. For the record, HEI bought the hotel from local owners over eight years ago.
http://www.heihotels.com/
The struggle to form a Union started when HEI was in charge, but recently they have sold out to Evolution, based in Long Beach.
http://www.pikestreetsuites.com/
According to Romero, Evolution just used E-Verify to try to get rid of problem employees, “we have talked to the agency housekeepers, and the majority are not documented.†This is the reason that Romero decided to go on this hunger strike.
Moreover, “The movement to bring in the Union, is what led to people being dismissed. They used E-Verify to try to stop the movement.â€
As written yesterday, according to Lorena Gonzalez of the Central Labor Council, and other leaders, this is exactly the case.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/San-Diego-Nine-go-on-Hunge-by-nadin-abbott-130406-318.html
Romero pointed to Felix Mora, who has been a cook for seventeen years, and is a leader in the movement. Today he was given a pretty bogus safety warning, that according to Union leaders was not even a safety warning. More on him bellow, as we did sit with him too.
This is not the first time that Romero has been involved in such a fight. She was part of a fight that brought a Union to a Westin Hotel in Los Angeles, so all these tactics are not new to her.
To her the goal of these tactics “ is to create fear among the workers. A lot of workers are afraid, and there is a fear environment of retaliation. Many are parents and when they are invited to join, they simply say, “if they see us with you, they can fire us today.â€
What is the goal of this Union movement? It is simply to bring a dignified treatment of workers, no more verbal abuse, or reprisals. Also there is the goal of Union wages, which are paid at the Hilton across the San Diego River in Mission Valley. These workers start at eleven to twelve dollars an hour, full time, and medical insurance. This means that they can have the whole family covered for fifty dollars a month.
Romero also said that she does have insurance through a third party, and her twenty four year old son is on it right now because of Obama Care.
As we sat with Mora, he is under great stress, and he recently had a heart attack and needed surgery. He has no health insurance, and the bill is coming to $300,000. This is a disaster for Mora, but the Workers Rights Center is assisting him. This is a textbook example of why medical insurance is needed.
Mora has worked at the Mission Valley Hilton for seventeen years, and overall as a short order cooks for thirty-five years. Since the Unionization effort started he has noticed a marked increase in demands from him and three other organizers.
Today he received a warning for a health safety violation, but it was for not completing the order correctly. There is more, he was shown the form, which he insisted in getting a copy before signing, but was not allowed to read the form. His manager translated it to him , “in whatever way he wanted to.â€
The reason for that was that he did not accept substitutions, but he was told by the head chef not to accept substitutions. “This is reprisal, and this is not the only thing they are doing.â€
“I have the feeling that the Chef has some hate for me. I am not alone, Don Hilario Hernandez, Rudy Calderon and Salvador Cruz.†Coincidentally they are all Union Organizers, who are pressured and treated badly. As Don Hilario put it yesterday, “they are pigs who do not even keep a clean kitchen.â€
What are some of the things allegedly done? The dishwashing machine does not use soap. This is a health and safety violation.
“The favorites of the Chef, they are allowed to slack off, and talk on the cell phone.â€
He finally said, “I have many years working here. I am worried about my health, my well being and the well being of my family.â€
La Jolla Hilton.
And then, there is more. The struggle to form Unions is not limited to the Mission Valley Hotel, making me wonder just how many hotels are facing these fights.
I talked for a good hour with Rosa Monyhan, a waitress at the La Jolla Hilton. For the record, if you go there, and you find that the service at the restaurant is lousy, please tip the staff well. It is not their fault; it is truly mismanagement in action. Moreover, if you take an including package including breakfast, please tip the staff; it will make sense in a minute.
According to Monyhan if you buy a room overnight, and it includes breakfast, the tip included with your breakfast “is two dollars, the breakfast ticket is twenty five.†This is around a 10% tip. The customary tip for a sit down restaurant is 15%, 20% if you are at a luxury place or in groups of eight or more. Waitresses rely on tips, and they are losing quite a bit of their livelihood due to this.â€
What other shenanigans are going on? Well, she works the evening shift, and this is a restaurant with twenty tables. She is expected to serve all twenty, never mind that she has no hostess, no busboy and no drinks person. “When I started thirty years ago, I had a hostess, a busboy and a drinks person.â€
This essentially means that “I have to clear the tables, set up the tables, take the orders and be the hostess.â€
Moreover, in case you wonder, a waitress is expected to manage five to seven tables, not twenty.
For some odd reason, I really do not know why… the restaurant seems not to be too busy. There is more. Wait staff is supposed to work regardless of health status. The Staff has pointed this to management, but management has this attitude that really, we don’t need to hire more people, since we do not have enough clients. It is a vicious circle.
Monyhan also said “that it does not matter if the hotel is 100% booked or not, they only have two cooks in the kitchen, regardless. They’re expected to put the food out just as fast. This puts a lot of pressure on them.â€
So you think these games are just at the level of the restaurant? Banquet services are not that much better, from the point of view of the workers. The wait staff is paid $8.00 \ hour, California minimum wage, and since the tips are included, they are given a $5.00 flat tip.
There is an effort to bring a Union as well, since House Keeping is again required to clean sixteen rooms in eight hours. “And the rooms are left like pigsties many a times since many of the clients are teens.â€
She also said that the best years of her life, working in the service industry were in Hawaii, where there are unions, and these abuses don’t happen. “California is for slaves.â€
Monyhan also pointed to the under current of racism, where Anglo workers man the front desk, but there are no opportunities for the Latinos to rise in the hierarchy.
Note to Hosts.. this is my material.
It gets worst, Romero said that “they are not documented workers.â€
I really wish someone would sit her down and explain the difference between worse and worst.
If they are illegal immigrants then I have no sympathy for them. If they can't respect our laws and come here legally then can they be trusted to follow other laws? They have already proven they will not follow laws they don't like.
Because I don't want to read GoBucks whining about no time stamp, the OP was posted, Sun Apr 7, 2013, 12:57 AM :-)
nadinbrzezinski (118,243 posts)
1. Kick
I know it is a long read, but backgrounds tend to be.
Posted at Sun Apr 7, 2013, 09:36 AM.
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"huger strike"???
Are they putting ON weight to protest?
Oh well.
9 down.
11,999,991 to go.
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I really wish someone would sit her down and explain the difference between worse and worst.
If they are illegal immigrants then I have no sympathy for them. If they can't respect our laws and come here legally then can they be trusted to follow other laws? They have already proven they will not follow laws they don't like.
Because I don't want to read GoBucks whining about no time stamp, the OP was posted, Sun Apr 7, 2013, 12:57 AM :-)
Posted at Sun Apr 7, 2013, 09:36 AM.
And rifles and riffles. And climatic and climactic. And there's probably many more. Whoever does it better allot several hours.
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And rifles and riffles. And climatic and climactic. And there's probably many more. Whoever does it better allot several hours.
Yep.
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Because I don't want to read GoBucks whining about no time stamp, the OP was posted, Sun Apr 7, 2013, 12:57 AM :-)
Posted at Sun Apr 7, 2013, 09:36 AM.
But that begs the question, why not just copy and paste?
Also, it's nice to show the text that indicates which DUmmy another DUmmy is replying to.
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I really wish someone would sit her down and explain the difference between worse and worst.
Or below and bellow.
Romero pointed to Felix Mora, who has been a cook for seventeen years, and is a leader in the movement. Today he was given a pretty bogus safety warning, that according to Union leaders was not even a safety warning. More on him bellow, as we did sit with him too.
The grammar in that entire article made me cringe.
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Illegal immigrants depress wages for citizens. That should be the headline. If the hotel wasn't able to pay illegals $8/hour, then they could be forced to hire more of the better paid contract employees, and those legal workers would be able to bargain for better pay.