Thread: Woodfin Suites housekeepers face layoffs

http://www.insidebayarea.com/localnews/ci_4856550

Woodfin Suites housekeepers face layoffs
Emeryville hotel wants to avoid immigration raid
By Cecily Burt, STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated:12/17/2006 08:14:38 AM PST


In the wake of widespread immigration raids last week, several housekeepers at the Woodfin Suites hotel in Emeryville and other Woodfin locations around the country were given two weeks' notice Friday because they have not proved they are allowed to legally work in the United States.
Hotel workers have picketed Woodfin Suites on Shellmound Street several times in recent months because they say the company is not complying with Measure C, a living wage law approved by voters in November 2005 that targets Emeryville's hospitality industry.

Nikki Bas, associate director of the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, or EBASE, said Woodfin management is retaliating against its employees by demanding they provide work documentation and resolve discrepancies in their Social Security numbers reported to the company by the Social Security Administration. EBASE drafted the living wage law and has been helping the workers organize for better working conditions.

Bas said management has threatened to fire workers who refuse to comply with that demand, but James Batt, Woodfin's president and chief operating officer, said the company is legally required to respond to notification by the Social Security Administration that some Social Security numbers provided by workers did not match government records.

He said the company does not want to fire its workers, and hotel management had given them ample opportunity and time off to resolve the discrepancies, but several had failed to do so.

EBASE previously filed a lawsuit against the company for failing to comply with the wage and benefits requirements of the new living wage law. It sought a temporary injunction to prevent the company from firing workers until the case is resolved.

At a hearing Nov. 30, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ronald Sabraw acknowledged Woodfin is in a tough position because the company can be in serious trouble if it hires illegal workers.

At the same time, the judge noted that the timing of Woodfin's request for documentation ... "may have a chilling effect on the (workers) and their First Amendment rights." He denied the injunction, but required that Woodfin give 14 days notice to any workers it intends to fire because their Social Security numbers don't match.

Batt said the two-week termination letters distributed to about 20 Emeryville workers Friday are a final attempt to have them resolve problems reported with their Social Security numbers. He said the very public immigration raids and arrests that made headlines last week of business owners suspected of hiring illegal workers in San Diego were something he'd rather not experience.

He also said the company is being painted as bad when in fact it has been doing all it can to help employees straighten out their records so they can stay on the job.

"The last thing we want to do is lose these good employees, but we can't keep employing them (if they are not in the country legally). I've gotten legal advice, we've asked the workers to get it squared away, and we've given them two weeks' pay to get organized. Beyond that, we're stuck."

Although the new hotel living-wage law took effect a year ago, the city has no administrative policies in place to monitor compliance or receive worker complaints. After several months, Emeryville City Attorney Michael Biddle requested wage records from the city's three hotels to determine whether they had adhered to the requirements of Measure C. But figuring out whether they did or did not isn't so easy and he has since requested additional documentation.

Patrick O'Keeffe, Emeryville's acting city manager, said early last week that new regulations for Measure C compliance will be presented to the City Council this month, and in January annual operating permits for each hotel will return to the council for approval.

The law states that hotel workers must be offered health benefits or paid a higher hourly wage if they decline the benefits. The law places limits on the amount of space workers are required to clean during a shift, and those required to exceed those limits are supposed to be paid time and a half for the extra work.

Bas said the city's two other hotels have adjusted pay and work conditions to comply with the new law, but Woodfin, where the suites are much larger than an average hotel room, remains a problem.

Marcela Melquiadez, 29, a single mother of three, has worked full time at the Woodfin for two years. To help make ends meet, her father moved in and shares the rent for her apartment in Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood. She said the hotel does offer health benefits, but it would cost $112 a month just for her and more if the children were covered.

Bas said Woodfin workers should have received time and a half for cleaning more space and estimates Melquiadez is owed $10,500 in back wages.


Contact staff writer Cecily Burt at cburt@angnewspapers.com.

Originally Posted by jean

At the same time, the judge noted that the timing of Woodfin's request for documentation ... "may have a chilling effect on the (workers) and their First Amendment rights."

I didn't know Illegals had First Amendment Rights.

Americans don't have first amendment rights in the third world country of Miami. They ban books on Cuba and make death threats and bomb threats towards politicians who tell the truth. Now they claim illegals elsewhere have first amendment rights. This is unreal.
As for dealing with those illegals, if the owner gave the people notices on several occassions then they shouldn't blame him. After the raids at Swift and all the talk about illegals and identity theft, he is afraid of negative publicity that comes with it. I think ICE using the identity theft to catch and deport illegals has really made people take another look at those who are supposively here to make a better life for themselves.

http://cbs5.com/localwire/localfsnews/b ... s_bcn_html

JUDGE PREVENTS EMERYVILLE HOTEL FROM FIRING IMMIGRANT EMPLOYEES
12/22/06 5:25 PST
OAKLAND (BCN)

A judge has granted a temporary restraining order preventing the Woodfin Suites hotel in Emeryville from firing 21 immigrant workers who say they want to enforce the city's living wage law.

The injunction issued by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ronald Sabraw on Thursday requires that the hotel either keep workers on paid administrative leave or give them their jobs back. The injunction is effective until Jan. 23.

According to the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, which is backing the workers, the Woodfin Suites fired 21 immigrant workers who have been involved in a campaign to enforce Emeryville's living wage law.

The workers allege that the firings were in retaliation for speaking up for their rights under the law.

According to the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, Woodfin Management placed the workers on two weeks suspension with pay and terminated them effective Dec. 29 because they didn't have legitimate Social Security numbers.

Workers are picketing at the hotel on a daily basis, according to the alliance.

A receptionist at Woodfin Suites said managers are away for the weekend and are unavailable for comment.

Sarah Noor of the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy said city of Emeryville officials supported the workers at a recent court hearing.

Noor said city officials are dealing with the situation by conducting an investigation of the hotel and by passing a law that would make it illegal to fire workers who complain about living wage ordinance violations.

The Emeryville City Council will vote on the proposed law Tuesday night, she said.

Noor said that if the city concludes that Woodfin Suites has been violating the living wage ordinance it could refuse to grant an operating permit to the hotel or attach conditions to the hotel's permit.


~~~~~
Appears to be another example of employers stuck trying to do the right thing if some of their employees are caught without proper soc sec #'s. That doesn't seem to matter to this judge? I'm confused.

Noor said city officials are dealing with the situation by conducting an investigation of the hotel and by passing a law that would make it illegal to fire workers who complain about living wage ordinance violations.

How can they make it illegal to fire illegal immigrants, even if they did complain about living wage ordinance violations? This makes absolutely no sense - what's to stop all illegal immigrants from making the claim that they are being fired because they complained about the living wage ordinance. Hmmm.....I certainly hope the writer of this article has his or her facts mixed up.

There is so much wrong with this it is hard to know where to start.

The law states that hotel workers must be offered health benefits or paid a higher hourly wage if they decline the benefits. The law places limits on the amount of space workers are required to clean during a shift, and those required to exceed those limits are supposed to be paid time and a half for the extra work.

Beyond being required to pay minimum wage, the government has no business forcing businesses to offer health benefits or higher wages. My husband's company does not even have health benefits and he hasn't been offered higher pay instead.

She said the hotel does offer health benefits, but it would cost $112 a month just for her and more if the children were covered.

I would pay that in a heartbeat. For our family of 4 the company I work for offers health insurance with premiums of $1000 a month.


And how in the world can a judge stop them from firing illegals. There is something very wrong here. It is illegal to employ illegals and this company gave said employees time to rectify matters with SS or be fired. Now a judge is going to force them to employ illegal aliens...

I was thinking the same. Maybe we should email the person who wrote the article and ask them what is wrong with this picture. It should also be emailed to ICE because if a complaint is made against an employer and illegal employees, they have to get involved.

Woodfin worker dispute not over, despite ruling
By Cecily Burt and Josh Richman, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area
Article Last Updated:06/14/2007 03:25:08 PM PDT

OAKLAND — Woodfin Suites Hotels was ordered to pay at least $125,000 in back pay to its housekeepers and a hefty fine to the city of Emeryville for its failure to comply with a living wage law, but the company has vowed to appeal the ruling.
Company officials are also defending efforts to seek political help in the form of Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-San Diego, to request that the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigate the immigration status of workers at the Woodfin in Emeryville and three other Emeryville hotels as well.

It's the latest chapter in a convoluted, long-running dispute between the hotel and labor activists who say the company shortchanged its housekeeping employees by refusing to pay them according to formulas outlined in Measure C, a living wage law drafted by labor and approved by voters in November 2005 that applies only to Emeryville's hospitality industry.

City officials said other hotels complied with the law but the Woodfin unsuccessfully challenged the law in court and withheld documentation to show whether or not it paid correct wages for the amount of hotel space housekeepers were required to clean on a daily basis.

In the past six months, Woodfin management twice attempted to fire workers who failed to correct Social Security numbers that did not match annual lists provided by the Social Security Administration. A state court judge blocked the first attempt by issuing a temporary restraining order. The workers were later fired in violation of city law that states a worker who has filed a complaint over wages cannot be fired or placed on leave during the investigation.

James Batt, Woodfin's president and chief operating officer, has said in the past the company had no choice but to release the workers because it violates federal immigration law to keep them on without proper work documents. He referred to widespread raids on companies found to employ illegal immigrants, including one in Southern California where the owner was led away in handcuffs.

Batt never mentioned that Woodfin CEO Samuel Hardage, who lives in Bilbray's district and is a regular contributor to Bilbray's campaigns, had asked the congressman to intervene, which Bilbray did in a Feb. 21 letter to Julie Meyers, assistant secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

After the San Francisco Bay Guardian reported the connection, Bilbray spokesman Kurt Bardella told the Tribune Wednesday that "from the Congressman's standpoint ... it's pretty fundamental." An employer knew illegal immigrants worked at his hotel, he wanted to comply with federal law, and he asked Bilbray — the House Immigration Reform Caucus' chairman — for help. "To us, for us to hear about this and not do anything about it would be criminal," Bardella said.

Bardella said it doesn't matter that Hardage is a regular contributor to Bilbray's campaigns, or that Emeryville is about 430 miles away.

"Given the Congressman's visibility on the issue of illegal immigration ... it's not surprising at all. We get phone calls every day from across the country," he said, noting Bilbray brought three other Emeryville hotels to ICE's attention in his Feb. 21 letter, not just Hardage's. "This is an issue the Congressman is extremely passionate about."

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, issued a statement Wednesday saying her office "has worked closely with the workers who have been impacted by this labor dispute, and I am deeply concerned by the allegations that another member of Congress — acting on behalf of a campaign contributor — may have gotten a federal agency to intervene in that dispute in a way that hurts workers in my district."

Asked whether Bilbray should've deferred to or coordinated with Lee, Bardella said any member of Congress should respond to any American seeking to comply with the law.

"It doesn't matter who does it or who gets the credit, it only matters that it gets done — results are what counts."

But Emeryville Councilmember John Fricke, who tried to meet with someone from ICE's Oakland office on Wednesday, said it raises the question of why ICE was involved in an investigation where a labor dispute exists, and none could be clearer than the battle at the Woodfin in Emeryville, graced twice a week with noisy labor protesters outside.

According to the National Immigration Law Center, ICE's internal regulations require it to "avoid inappropriate worksite interventions where it is known or reasonably suspected that a labor dispute is occurring and the intervention may, or may be sought so as to, interfere in the dispute."

That's discretionary, but a New York City federal immigration judge in 2003 tossed out a case against two illegal immigrants because agents hadn't sought senior immigration officials' approval or consulted with state and federal labor agencies before raiding a garment factory those workers were trying to organize.

And under an agreement struck with the Labor Department almost a decade ago, ICE must carefully review cases in which there are underlying labor disputes before moving forward with investigations.

ICE regional spokeswoman Virginia Kice said her agency won't confirm or deny investigations until they're a matter of public record through court filings, or until there's "overt enforcement action" such as arrests or service of search warrants. She issued a statement saying ICE probes workplaces "based upon credible evidence of irregularities in the hiring process."

"The agency respects employees' rights to a safe and fair workplace; however, if ICE has evidence of criminal activity, a labor dispute does not preclude us from conducting an investigation," the statement said.

Hugh MacIntosh, Woodfin general manager, said in a statement Wednesday that because the hotel has been subjected to conflicting state and federal laws, it "sought the expertise and guidance from a number of scholars, attorneys and other highly knowledgeable sources — including elected officials with significant immigration-policy experience, such as Rep. Bilbray."

MacIntosh also said in his statement that the city was notified in March, in a letter from Woodfin's attorney and also copied to ICE, that it was very concerned about the conflicts between federal immigration laws and the requirements of Measure C and planned to take whatever action it could to resolve the matter.

"We at Woodfin Suites were determined to do everything possible to protect our company and our employees from such liabilities," MacIntosh said.

As far as the city's contention that the company owes back wages to more than 46 current and former workers, MacIntosh said the company would appeal the administrative decision to the City Council.

According to a letter sent to MacIntosh Tuesday, Emeryville City Manager Patrick O'Keeffe said the city used the pay records provided as well as a lack of requested pay records to calculate about $125,000 in back wages for more than 50 workers and left it up to the hotel to calculate other defined discrepancies in pay since the law went into effect. All back wages are to be paid by July 31.

The city also charged Woodfin a $31,500 penalty that represents $100 for every day Woodfin failed to provide requested documentation. That penalty is also due by July 31.

Woodfin must also pay $12,125.68 for an annual permit good through June 30, 2008 and submit a letter declaring that it has paid all back wages and will comply with provisions of Measure C.

"Once again, Emeryville's city attorney is holding our hotel to a grossly unfair and even bizarre double standard," MacIntosh wrote. "His office took more than 15 months to draft and implement the regulations and procedures setting forth the guidelines for compliance with Measure C, many of whose provisions apply only to our hotel."

http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/ci_6137961

I like the part about the cities living wage and the fines that were paid under that. They have that in Miami Dade and Broward Counties as well. Maybe they should start using it and then we won't loose services.

If amnesty passes, there will be "Woodfins" repeated all over the country. Once they are legalized, the demands will begin and unions will start organizing like mad. The employers have NO idea what they are in for when they lobby to make these people legal. When this happens, ILLEGAL aliens will be standing in the wings to take those jobs!

"I can ask for more money and better working hours when I'm legal." -quote from an Illegal Alien