Court asked to issue injunction to reinstate Rochester 19

The ruling, if issued, would utilize a remedy rarely exercised under federal labor law. UNITE HERE Local 21, the union representing the workers, said it shows the workers have been seriously mistreated.

"When an employer gets that (injunction), they\’re being labeled the worst of the worst," said Dave Blanchard, Local 21 secretary-treasurer and business manager.

The ruling involves the "Rochester 19," fired just days before Christmas after new owners, CPMJ Enterprises, took over the downtown Holiday Inn Express. The workers, who were employed as housekeepers, attendants and maintenance workers, were members of Local 21, which had represented workers at the hotel for decades.

According to workers, the new owners said they didn\’t want a union at the hotel. While unionized workers were fired, non-union workers were retained.

That action and others prompted the National Labor Relations Board to issue an unfair labor practice complaint in March against the hotel management. The hotel is appealing the complaint, which could take months and even years. So the regional office of the NLRB took the unusual step of requesting a 10J injunction.

Under the National Labor Relations Act, in cases of serious labor law violations, the NLRB may ask a federal judge to issue an injunction for immediate relief. In the case of the Rochester 19, the regional office is asking Federal Judge Michael Davis to order the Holiday Inn Express to reinstate the fired workers and immediately recognize and bargain with their union.

If issued, it would be the first time in about 10 years that a 10J injunction has been issued in Minnesota, said NLRB Regional Director Robert Chester. The regional office also is pursuing a 10J injunction on behalf of three workers at Eichorn Motors in Grand Rapids, who say they were fired for trying to unionize.

"This is a big deal," attorney Robert Metcalf said of the request for injunction to reinstate the Rochester 19. "The regional office and the board in Washington have to be convinced it\’s a very flagrant and serious violation being committed before they\’ll do this."

Metcalf\’s firm, Metcalf Kaspari Howard Engdahl & Lazarus, has represented Local 21 for several years.

The path toward an injunction began when the union made the request to the NLRB regional office, Chester and Metcalf explained.

The region decided the case had merit and submitted a memorandum to the NLRB general counsel in Washington, D.C., who reviewed the request and presented it to the five-member national board. The national board gave the regional office the authority to go to court. After hearing arguments on June 25 at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis, Davis is expected to issue a decision in a matter of days.

"We think that we will win the case," Chester said. "It deserves 10J because of the harm – what we call irreparable harm – that would occur if we don\’t get the people back. They could spread to the four winds."

Chester said the NLRB is "paying special attention to 10J injunction issues, especially involving first contract type cases and organizing cases. The Holiday Inn case happens to be a successor, which would be an organizing type of a situation."

In memorandums issued over the past year, the NLRB general counsel has urged regional offices to consider greater use of the injunction in appropriate situations. The recommendation comes at a time when Congress is considering the Employee Free Choice Act – the first major improvement in federal labor law since passage of the National Labor Relations Act in 1935. One of the remedies that would be strengthened under the proposed legislation is the injunction.

The injunction would restore union pay and benefits to both the reinstated workers and those hired to replace them, Metcalf noted. New ownership has cut both wages and benefits for the hotel staff, so "wages of everyone who works there will dramatically increase" when a union is restored, he said.

The Rochester 19 engage in occasional picketing and other demonstrations outside the Holiday Inn Express, but have had to find other employment while their case is pursued. Local 21 Business Manager Blanchard said the workers were heartened by the injunction request and several plan to attend the court hearing.

"There\’s a sense of pride that this is getting addressed, but I don\’t think there\’s closure yet," Blanchard noted.

Regardless of the outcome of the hearing on the injunction, the NLRB will continue to pursue unfair labor practice charges against the management. A hearing was held this spring before an administrative law judge, who is expected to rule in the next few months.