Rally for hotel workers!
*JULY 30 - MARCH FOR HOTEL WORKERS’ RIGHTS! *
*SHERATON CRYSTAL CITY*
Thursday, July 30
4:30 - 6:30pm
1800 Jefferson Davis Highway - Arlington, VA
by the Crystal City Metro
*SUPPORT FIRED UNION LEADER FERDI LAZO!*
*DEFEND THE RIGHT TO ORGANIZE!*
HEI Hotels and Resorts, owner of the Sheraton Crystal City, is one of the fastest growing hotel management companies in the US. While it owns a hotel, HEI employs a range of techniques to bring costs down. Employees have experienced reduced hours and layoffs, shortages in cleaning supplies and basic materials, and increased workloads – especially in housekeeping.
Now, HEI workers are fighting back! In February 2009, workers at the Sheraton Crystal City in Northern Virginia joined HEI workers at the Le Meridien in San Francisco and Hilton Long Beach in a national campaign for fairness. Supported by student activists and local community leaders, workers presented their general manager, Pradeep Bobba, with a demand for a
fair and democratic process for deciding whether to form a union, without management interference.
At each hotel where workers have demanded justice, HEI has laidoff or disciplined union activists. As workers have campaigned at the Sheraton Crystal City, HEI has required them to attend anti-union meetings on work
time, circulated leaflets accusing the union making “worthless promisesâ€, interrogated workers about their involvement in the union, and laid off
union supporters, including union leader, Hermen Romero. Now, HEI managers have fired union leader Ferdi Lazo. On May 22, Ferdi and his coworkers led a
delegation to their manager to raise concerns about the lack of work supplies and recent lay offs. After the delegation, Ferdi was interrogated by a manager about his involvement in the union. Just five days later, Ferdi was fired, allegedly for being late to work on one occasion.
*STAND WITH US ON JULY 30 TO DEMAND JUSTICE FOR SHERATON CRYSTAL CITY WORKERS!*
