by Juliana Birnbaum Fox
Docens of workers sympatizers and advocates march in front of Woofin Hotel
Over 300 protesters, including hotel workers, union organizers, and community leaders, gathered last Monday outside the Woodfin Suites Hotel in Emeryville. The rally then marched on to City Hall, where councilmembers held their second hearing on the nearly three-year-old dispute that has pitted immigrant workers against a luxury hotel chain.
The foundations of the battle were laid in 2005 when Emeryville voters approved Measure C, a living wage law for hotel workers. Woodfin argues it has complied with Measure C, although the hotel fought the living wage ordinance before it became law and continues to call it unconstitutional.
For about a year, Woodfin refused to pay housekeepers the wage rates required under the law and eventually fired 12 worker leaders, claiming to have issues with validating their social security numbers. East Bay Alliance for Sustainable Economy (EBASE) has taken on a pivotal role in supporting the workers, calling on employers not to use immigration laws as a pretext to deny workers their right to uphold labor standards.
Housekeeper Maria Martinez said she is angry and fighting for the desperately needed money she says she’s already earned. “I want to see justice,” she said in Spanish. “I want to see us paid what we’re owed.”
Tim Rosales, spokesman for the hotel, said that the Woodfin dispute has more to do with labor leaders trying to unionize the hotel than unjustly treated workers.
“I think that you are seeing some outside pressure groups come in and try to make an example of non-union hotels here in Emeryville,” he said.
City Manager Patrick O’Keefe said Measure C is all about fair wages, not unions, and reaffirmed the city’s position that Woodfin Suites needs to pay the approximately $200,000 in back wages.
Woodfin owner Sam Hardage has reportedly spent about twice the sum they owe on largely unsuccessful litigation trying to overturn the city’s living wage ordinance and the 2007 court order to pay the wages. The hotel’s general manager, Hugh MacIntosh, said that Emeryville moved far beyond its regulatory limits in trying to micromanage the hotel’s business.
“This dispute goes way back and is tied to undocumented workers,” MacIntosh said. “EBASE used their vulnerability to encourage them to file complaints, saying we’d treated them unfairly and owed them back wages. All of this is unfounded.”
Last Thursday Judge Steven A. Brick of the Alameda Superior Court denied the Woodfin Hotel’s request for an injunction against the Emeryville City Council. The council voted Monday to continue the hearing on Woodfin’s appeal of the back wage order on December 1 at 7:00 pm.
“With half of the hearing done, workers are one step closer to getting the back wages they deserve… Especially in this time of economic crisis, we call on Sam Hardage to act swiftly and put checks into workers hands in time for the holidays,” said Brooke Anderson, EBASE’s Organizing Director. “Then the hotel will be able to re-join the community.”
