Merry Christmas – here’s a pink slip

The workers are all members of UNITE HERE Local 21 and many had worked at the hotel for several years. Recently, Sunstone Hotels announced it was selling the hotel, located in downtown Rochester, to CMPJ Enterprises, LLC, owned by Mike Bhakta.

Bhakta "immediately made it clear he didn\’t want a union at the hotel," said Dave Blanchard, secretary-treasurer and business manager at Local 21. On Thursday, the union employees, who perform housekeeping, maintenance and other work, were told they were out of a job.

Meanwhile, the new management is keeping non-union front desk employees, Blanchard noted.

The union immediately went into action, holding a news conference and picket on Friday morning. Blanchard said Local 21 would be filing unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board and possibly seek a court injunction to halt the firings.

"This is a vicious, anti-union attack coming just before the holidays so you can imagine how upset the workers are," he said. "But they are ready to fight to keep their jobs."

Local 21 has represented workers at the Holiday Inn for over 30 years.

"The union workers have good wages, health insurance and retirement plans as well as respect and dignity on the job guaranteed by their union contract," Blanchard noted. "It is highly likely that any new employees will be making less money and with fewer benefits than the current ones. This is not good for the health of our community."

Local 21 is asking union members and friends of labor to boycott the hotel and contact the new management to protest the firings. For more information on sending a message, go to this webpage operated by the Southeast Central Labor Council, http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/HolidayInn/

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The union also plans to begin daily informational picketing. The picketing will be sporadic during the next week because of the holidays, but will probably be scheduled from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. starting Jan. 2, Blanchard said.
"If anyone gets a chance to join us and walk with us, we\’d certainly appreciate it," he said.

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