Tell HEI to Respect Workers' Demands for Justice!

Last Thursday, February 26, 2009, workers at the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, went public with a demand that the company respect their desire for a Card Check/Neutrality Process! Just hours before the delegation, Union leader Ferdi Lazo was suspended indefinitely by HEI. One day after seeing the outpouring of support from students, local union members and the community, HEI managers asked Ferdi to report back to work the following Tuesday, but without pay for the days of his unjust suspension. While Ferdi's return to work shows the importance of community support, it also highlights the need for workers' demand of company neutrality. Tell HEI to respect its workers' demands for justice! Call Sheraton Crystal City General Manager, Pradeep Bobba: 703.486.1111 Hi, my name is ________ and I am a student calling from ________. I urge you to immediately respect the rights of your hotel workers by signing a Card Check Neutrality Agreement and paying Ferdi Lazo backpay for the days he was unjustly suspended! Thank you.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Respect Your Workers' Demands for Justice!

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I am encouraged to see that you have corrected your unjust suspension of Ferdi Lazo by putting him back to work this week. However, the fact that he was suspended the very same day as the workers' first public delegation to demand a for a fair and democratic process for deciding whether to form a union, without management interference is highly suspicious and concerning to me. Combined with similarly suspicious lay offs and discipline of Union Activists in HEI's Hilton Long Beach and Le Meridien hotels, Ferdi's suspension indicates a pattern of harassment of Union activists and leaders. This pattern highlights the need for HEI to affirmatively pledge it's neutrality by signing a card check/neutrality agreement.

I demand that you immediately respect Ferdi Lazo and his coworkers' right to organize. Pay Ferdi for the four days of work that he missed! Sign the card check neutrality agreement that the workers have demanded!

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
March 04, 2009

Background Information

Last Thursday, February 26, 2009, workers at the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, VA delegated HEI management - going public with a demand that the company respect their desire for a Card Check/Neutrality agreement. Supported by student activists from Brown, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and U Penn, along with local community leaders, workers presented the general manager, Pradeep Bobba, with a demand for a fair and democratic process for deciding whether to form a union, without management interference.

Just hours before the delegation, Union leader, Ferdi Lazo , an engineer at the Sheraton Crystal City, was suspended indefinitely by HEI. "They said it was because I don't work fast enough. But I've worked fast enough for this hotel for the last 20 years." One day after seeing the outpouring of support from students, community and other local Union members, HEI managers called Ferdi and told him to report back to work the following Tuesday. But without pay for the days he would miss!

This week Ferdi is back to work, but still missing the pay for the days he was unjustly suspended. While Ferdi's return to work shows the importance of community support, it also highlights the need for workers' demand of Company neutrality.

HEI workers at the Sheraton Crystal City are joining workers at HEI's Le Meridien in San Francisco and HEI's Hilton in Long Beach CA in their call for a fair and democratic process for deciding whether to form a union, without management interference. In each hotel where workers have gone public HEI has committed a series of suspicious layoffs and disciplines of Union activists. These actions on the Company's part show the need for a card check neutrality process that guarantees that no worker will be intimidated or harassed for their Union activism.

Last fall, USAS officially endorsed the HEI campaign. As students, we can play a unique role in supporting HEI workers in their fight for justice because a significant portion of HEI's investment money comes from the endowments of major US universities.