Banging pots and pans, blowing whistles and chanting, demonstrators issued a "wake-up call" Friday to management at the Holiday Inn Select hotel near Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
The demonstration was part of an ongoing campaign by UNITE HERE Local 17 on behalf of workers at the hotel, said Martin Goff, the union's director of organization.
"We're hearing from them (workers) inside," he said. "They really appreciate what we're doing."
In June 2005, workers at the Holiday Inn Select voted down union representation, but the election was thrown out when the National Labor Relations Board said the employer violated federal labor law by essentially trying to bribe employees to oppose the union.
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| UNITE HERE Local 17 members and supporters demonstrated outside the Holiday Inn Select Friday. |
Interest in organizing has continued, so the union approached the hotel about signing a "labor peace agreement" in which management agrees to remain neutral and accepts the results of a card check in lieu of a union election. Increasingly, unions are turning to card checks to avoid the drawnout process of an NLRB election.
Management rejected Local 17's proposal, but the union is not giving up, Goff said.
"We're going to turn the tables on this management and we're going to force them to feel intimidated," he said. "We're going to force this company into a card-check agreement."
Local 17 is known for persevering in such struggles, even if it takes years. It took some seven or eight years, for example, to win a contract with the Minneapolis Radisson hotel in the early 1990s.
The crowd at Friday's rally included Mark Ritchie, labor-endorsed candidate for Minnesota Secretary of State, and Coleen Rowley, labor-endorsed candidate in Minnesota's Second Congressional District.
The union is urging people to call Holiday Inn Select General Manager Mike Wilke, 952-854-9000, and ask him to sign the labor peace agreement.
 |
| The noisy rally, featuring whistles and pots and pans, was intended to send a "wake-up call" to hotel management, organizers said. |
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Banging pots and pans, blowing whistles and chanting, demonstrators issued a “wake-up call” Friday to management at the Holiday Inn Select hotel near Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
The demonstration was part of an ongoing campaign by UNITE HERE Local 17 on behalf of workers at the hotel, said Martin Goff, the union’s director of organization.
“We’re hearing from them (workers) inside,” he said. “They really appreciate what we’re doing.”
In June 2005, workers at the Holiday Inn Select voted down union representation, but the election was thrown out when the National Labor Relations Board said the employer violated federal labor law by essentially trying to bribe employees to oppose the union.
|
| UNITE HERE Local 17 members and supporters demonstrated outside the Holiday Inn Select Friday. |
Interest in organizing has continued, so the union approached the hotel about signing a “labor peace agreement” in which management agrees to remain neutral and accepts the results of a card check in lieu of a union election. Increasingly, unions are turning to card checks to avoid the drawnout process of an NLRB election.
Management rejected Local 17’s proposal, but the union is not giving up, Goff said.
“We’re going to turn the tables on this management and we’re going to force them to feel intimidated,” he said. “We’re going to force this company into a card-check agreement.”
Local 17 is known for persevering in such struggles, even if it takes years. It took some seven or eight years, for example, to win a contract with the Minneapolis Radisson hotel in the early 1990s.
The crowd at Friday’s rally included Mark Ritchie, labor-endorsed candidate for Minnesota Secretary of State, and Coleen Rowley, labor-endorsed candidate in Minnesota’s Second Congressional District.
The union is urging people to call Holiday Inn Select General Manager Mike Wilke, 952-854-9000, and ask him to sign the labor peace agreement.
|
| The noisy rally, featuring whistles and pots and pans, was intended to send a “wake-up call” to hotel management, organizers said. |