Labor makes gains, faces stiff resistance

September 7, 2009. Monterey County Herald

By STEVE BRADY
Guest commentary
Updated: 09/07/2009 01:29:52 AM PDT


Today marks the 116th celebration of Labor Day in the United States. In the rest of the civilized world, Labor Day is celebrated on May 1, commemorating the American martyrs of the 1886 Haymarket riot. Strangely, in this "land by horror haunted," Labor Day commemorates the death of summer. Whereas it used to herald the start of school and football, nowadays, with global warming, it just interrupts both in their third week. 

Sadly, this Labor Day, union busting is alive and well at the Monterey Bay Travelodge. Union busting, a.k.a. strikebreaking, has a long and bloody tradition from Pinkertons and Chicago police beating and killing strikers at Haymarket, to the San Francisco Police Department beating and killing workers during the longshoreman's strike of '34.

Despite occasional respites, labor has had a hard time in our country. For instance, in Watsonville, in the late '90s, the strawberry growers vainly attempted to defeat the UFW with a company union, and we in Monterey County all know of the screening policies of Wal-Mart and the Marriot Corp.

In the old days, police and military thugs used clubs to try to crush the labor movement. Nowadays, lawyers beat down organized labor by election tampering, company unions, and disinformation campaigns, rather like the Astro-turfers are doing in the health-care crisis.

During the Monterey hotel workers strike of '82, the owners formed a coalition to hire a protege of Pinkerton, known as Littler Mendelson, the Blackhawk of union busters. The Littler law firm had been in business only 40 years at that time, but early on had a notorious reputation for fighting against workers' rights, social justice and civil rights. According to their Web site, www.littler.com, they're proud of it!
Littler did its best to defeat H.E.R.E., but the strike ended with major concessions that the workers still enjoy today. Except at the Monterey Bay Travelodge.

I hope I don't start a big tzimmes by bringing this up, but, in 2004, the Travelodge's absentee owner cut pension and insurance benefits, froze wages and cut the lunch break for 13 wise Latina housekeepers (kind of like Sonja Sotomayor and Hilda Solis). Not so incidentally, for years the owner has employed Littler while using city and private police to intimidate picketers and organizers ...


Solidarity forever.


Steve Brady lives in Watsonville and works at a unionized Monterey hotel.. Read more>>>

Seo Runs From Workers

April 28, 2006.

Monterey Bay Travelodge owner, Kilsoo Seo, literally ran away from his workers Friday, April 28.. Read more>>>

About the Boycott

UNITE HERE Local 483 has announced a boycott of the Monterey Bay Travelodge at 2030 North Fremont Street in Monterey, California. The contract for the thirteen Latino Travelodge workers expired in December, 2003, and the hotel owner, Kilsoo Seo, of Bethel Alaska, has instituted his own demands without coming to agreement with Local 483. The Monterey Bay Travelodge workers now face:

• ELIMINATION of all their health insurance,
• ELIMINATION of their pension plan,
• FREEZE of their hourly wages at $8.84, and
• an INCREASE in their WORKDAY by 30 minutes without pay (unpaid lunch break).

We urge you to help these Travelodge workers in their struggle for a fair contract by staying at other hotels on the Monterey Bay and canceling reservations you have with the Monterey Bay Travelodge.

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