Thanksgiving Rally for Justice at Pine Inn

Dozens of Carmel hotel workers and their community supporters participated in a Thanksgiving Rally for a Fair Contract at Pine Inn November 22, 2011.

The protest came in the wake of another contract bargaining session that failed to reach an agreement and the filing by the workers’ union, UNITE HERE Local 483, of unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the Pine Inn & Tally-Ho Inn.

The 28 Pine Inn & Tally-Ho Inn workers have been without a contract since January 1, 2011.  The workers are housekeeping, bell, front desk, and maintenance employees.  The hotel owner, Richard Gunner of Fresno, is demanding to eliminate longtime employer coverage of family health insurance for the Pine Inn and Tally-Ho Inn workers.  These 28 Carmel hotel workers, their 29 children, and 13 spouses are facing the loss of their hard-earned benefits.  The owner has not said he cannot afford to pay.

“This is the 1% enriching themselves on the backs of the 99%.  The Pine Inn owner wants to make more money than he already is making, so he takes it from his workers’ children’s insurance.  Some Thanksgiving.  We won’t stand for that,” said Local 483 Vice President, Hector Azpilcueta.

In the November 21st NLRB charges against Pine Inn and Tally-Ho Inn, Local 483 alleges that management violated workers’ rights by conducting surveillance of legally protected union activity and by interfering with the right of union representatives to communicate with workers.

The rally, sponsored by UNITE HERE Local 483, featured a Thanksgiving theme, including the collection of community donations for La Playa Hotel workers, who lost their jobs with the closing of the hotel on November 1, 2011.