Milestones
By Miles H. Barber

If the unions have such a hot deal for their members why is it that some workers just don't want to join the union ranks?

Labor Day, a small group of paid union members and a few volunteers once again picketed the Santa Clara Hyatt Hotel.

They made statements to the press which a gullible San Jose Mercury reporter ate up like a holiday hot dog. "All we want is a fair process for employees to determine if they wish to join the union," stated an employee who was working that day at the Hyatt.

You might be interested to know that only a few of the other 250 plus Hyatt employees joined in this protest (like four).

The Mercury reported this employee only earned $13.25 per hour while working on a holiday. What they failed to mention is, that if a Hyatt employee works 8 hours on a holiday, they are paid for an additional 8 hours.

Whenever someone says they want something to be "fair", watch out, particularly when it comes from a union spokesperson.

The unions want anything but fairness. They want control and they want their union in the Hyatt.

They want it so bad they have used about every possible means to force Hyatt into submission.

They have made night time visits to employee homes and pressured them to demand from their Hyatt employer they join the union.

The unions have held up Hyatt employee contracts in San Francisco, inserting language requiring that the Santa Clara Hyatt must join the union first before these employees can obtain a new contract. So these employees are being used as pawns in an attempt to force the Santa Clara Hyatt into capitulation.

So far we are looking at intimidation, coercion and blackmail all in the name of "fairness".

According to Peter Rice, VP and General Manager "The Hyatt has agreed to having a secret ballot election (NRLB approved for 75 years) to allow the employees to vote on whether they want a union or not. The unions want a "card check" election, which the hotel does not agree with. The hotel has consistently stated that we are willing to abide by existing law and give employees the right to a secret ballot."

Maybe there are some reasons the Santa Clara Hyatt employees do not wish to join the union.

For openers, the Hyatt pays competitive wages and offers a wide range of benefits. In fact, they offer over 35 choices of different tailor-made health plans.

In addition, the Hyatt also pays the majority of an employee's health and dental benefits, provides paid vacations, paid sick leave, paid bereavement leave, tuition reimbursement, a matching 401 K retirement plan and 12 free rooms a year at any Hyatt Hotel around the world.

If the Hyatt employees signed on to the union, some of these benefits would go away.

No wonder the unions have to use coercion.

They just don't have such a hot deal.

Miles H. Barber can be reached at Scweekly2011@yahoo.com