Press Release

For Immediate Release

6/14/2010

HEI Hotels and Resorts Reinstates Fired Union Leader After Year-Long Worker and Student Campaign

ARLINGTON, VA - This week HEI Hotels and Resorts agreed to return fired Union leader Ferdi Lazo to work at the Sheraton Crystal City hotel. HEI signed a settlement agreement with Region 5 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLR) to reinstate Ferdi Lazo, pay 80% of his back wages for the 14 months he was fired, remove a written discipline given to a front desk worker active in the union, and post a public pledge in the hotel to respect workers' legal rights to collective action. While continuing to deny wrongdoing under the settlement terms, HEI will remedy a wide array of unfair labor practice allegations that the NLRB's General Counsel's Office was prepared to litigate.

Mr. Lazo began working at the hotel in 1990, first as a server in the restaurant, later as a shuttle bus driver, and most recently as an engineer. After many years of service, Mr. Lazo became a vocal leader of a union organizing campaign and spoke out about increased workloads, low wages and disrespect from management. In February 2009, workers gathered a petition to request a card check neutrality agreement - a fair and democratic process for deciding on unionization without intimidation.

 HEI refused their demand and began a campaign of mandatory meetings and leaflets against the union. Shortly after, HEI laid off three kitchen workers who had participated in union activities and then fired Ferdi Lazo in May 2009, just days after he led a group of his coworkers to confront the general manager to protest the layoffs.

The HEI workers took their case to the National Labor Relations Board and to the public. Eleven workers provided sworn affidavits to NLRB investigators. Their statements recounted threats, interrogation, surveillance, and coercion against pro-union workers. They kept up the fight by organizing picket lines and noisy early morning protests, and calling for a boycott of their own hotel.

Mr. Lazo and his coworkers also went on a speaking tour to universities that invest their endowments in HEI to lead student protests for divestment. Yale University, Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania - major investors in HEI - publicly expressed their concern about the allegations. At Notre Dame, a group of thirteen students went on hunger strike for five days to demand divestment from HEI.

In October and November of 2009 and March 2010, the Office of the General Counsel of the NLRB issued complaints against the hotel alleging fifteen violations of federal labor law - including firing Ferdi Lazo as retaliation for his role in the union. A hearing was scheduled to begin on Monday, June 7, 2010. Rather than face the hearing, HEI signed a settlement agreement with Region 5 of the NLRB to reinstate Ferdi Lazo, pay 80% of his back wages for the year he was fired, remove a written discipline given to a front desk worker active in the union, and post a public pledge in the hotel to honor workers' rights to organize and form a union. While continuing to deny wrongdoing under the settlement terms, HEI will remedy a wide array of unfair labor practice allegations that the NLRB's General Counsel's Office was prepared to litigate.

"I am so happy that we won my job back. This wasn't just our struggle, but also the struggle of our whole community, student activists and union members from other hotels and other unions. It is amazing. It is a victory that I am coming back to work, and now we will continue our struggle stronger than before for a fair agreement to decide on unionization. We will continue our boycott of the Sheraton Crystal City and fight until we win justice," said Ferdi Lazo.

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