Union Watchdog Releases Labor Day Report Detailing Unite Here Local 11 Pandemic Failure
Yesterday, the Center for Union Facts released a 24-page report on how hotel worker union Unite Here Local 11 failed its membership during the pandemic.
Hospitality workers were some of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. As the industry starts to recover, our research outlines how Local 11:
- Imposed a dues increase on struggling members during the pandemic;
- Fought government aid for the hospitality industry and fought efforts to reopen hotels, even after safety measures were in place;
- Sent members to canvass in-person while simultaneously calling for a shutdown of the hotel industry in Los Angeles;
- Benefitted from Paycheck Protection Program funding while criticizing hotels for receiving the same.
Local 11 has exited the pandemic weaker and more indebted than at any other point in recent history. Before the union can regrow its membership, it should be held accountable for its failure to protect its own rank and file.
Charlyce Bozzello, communications director for the Center for Union Facts released this statement on the report:
"Local 11 likes to boast about how much it's done for hotel workers. But the evidence shows that when the union's members needed it the most, Local 11 failed them. The union's leaders should be ashamed of themselves for putting their own interests ahead of struggling workers."
You can read the full report here.
SOURCE Center for Union Facts