Santa Monica, Calif. (April 1, 2005) – After National Right to Work Foundation attorneys persuaded National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) prosecutors to file a complaint against a local union and hotel for corralling the workers into unionization, the hotel has been forced to withdraw recognition of the union.

After six employees at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel filed federal unfair labor practice charges in late 2003 to challenge a so-called “card check” unionization drive that resulted in a flood of allegations of workers’ rights violations, the NLRB General Counsel’s office ordered prosecution of the hotel and the union for collusion. The workers alleged that the hotel illegally recognized Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE) Union Local 11 as the monopoly bargaining representative of the Hotel’s staff despite a lack of majority support.

Under “card check” or so-called “neutrality agreements,” employers are induced to waive their employees’ ability to vote in a secret ballot election and agree to provide other assistance to union organizers in pressuring employees to unionize. These pacts often include unlawful pre-arrangements over substantive terms and conditions of employment, such as health care, wages, or compulsory union dues. Typically the union will agree to limit wage and benefit demands in exchange for company help in coercing workers to unionize.

Because many Four Points workers felt harassed into signing union authorization cards, and many revoked signed cards, the employees disputed the union’s claim that a majority of the workers actually support it – and NLRB officials agreed. The employees asked the NLRB to bar HERE officials from bargaining on their behalf. Rather than face a trial, the hotel and union settled.

In withdrawing recognition of the HERE union, hotel officials also agreed not to recognize the union in future organizing attempts unless it demonstrates majority support through the less abusive government-supervised secret ballot election process. Hotel workers will also now be free to bargain directly with their employer over their own wages and working conditions.

“Despite HERE union officials’ claims of innocence, their decision to settle suggests that union officials recognize that they may not enjoy the support of a majority of workers,” said Stefan Gleason, Vice President of the National Right to Work Foundation. “While this is a meaningful victory for these workers, so long as California workers labor under a system of compulsory unionism, they will continue to face such cynical schemes.”

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.