Jewish groups sign pledge to remain behind the picket line
By Kristin Erekson
The Jewish Advocate
Organizations show solidarity with hotel workers threatening to strike
If Boston's hotel workers decide to strike next month, local Jewish organizations are vowing to stand behind them by canceling their multi-thousand dollar events being held at the upscale venues.
Earlier this month, officials at the Rashi School, a Reform Jewish day school in Newton, and Jewish Funds for Justice, a national organization that fights poverty, signed a pledge created by the New England Jewish Labor Committee (JLC) that promises to stay behind the picket line if hotel employees in the area strike.
More than 1,000 workers hired by New York-based Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which operates Sheraton Boston, Westin Copley Place, Westin Waterfront and Boston Park Plaza, voted on March 14 in favor of a strike authorization. The vote was a result of employees' disagreement over wages, workloads, healthcare and retirement benefits, and the lack of African-Americans employed at the locales, according to UNITE HERE! Local 26 President Janice Loux.
Loux told the Advocate that "negotiations with Starwood have been very tough." Consequently, a strike at any of these Boston properties can be called as early as April 1.
"We are heading towards a serious labor dispute," Loux added. "I absolutely think that the Jewish community boycott will have a huge impact. When you start raising the issue of affecting the profit margin, it has one of the biggest impacts of all."
While the contract covering the Sheraton Boston, Boston Park Plaza and Westin Waterfront Hotels has expired, the contract at the Westin Copley Place is set to be terminated on March 31.
David Dolev, regional director of the New England JLC, said the committee has engaged in a national campaign over the past year to ensure hotel workers' rights. But with a strike looming in Boston, Dolev and others have now been scrambling to collect signatures from religious leaders and organizations that back the Hub's hotel employees.
"I think that we all know that many of our grandparents were immigrants to this county and worked for very, very low wages," Dolev said, noting that many Jewish organizations have events at these hotels because of their kosher facilities. "I also think that the hotels in Boston are very profitable and the basic minimum they could do is to make sure their workers have basic rights."
Rabbi Joe Eiduson, head of the Rashi School, said he received a phone call from the JLC last week regarding the strike and immediately wanted to help. He turned in his pledge to the JLC on March 16.
The school is expecting to hold its annual dinner for more than 500 people on May 17 at the Westin Copley Place, where cocktails and a kosher dinner will be served. Though he wouldn't give an exact amount, Eiduson noted that the educational institution will lose "thousands of dollars" – the cost of the event – if workers strike, since members of the Rashi community won't cross the picket line. Yet, he added, it's a risk that's worthwhile.
"As a Jewish day school affiliated with the Reform movement and since the founding of Reform Judaism, a commitment to America's workers has always been affirmed," Eiduson said. "We are hopeful that the workers and management are going to come to a resolution and, hopefully, there won't be a strike."
Mik Moore, director of communications and public policy at Jewish Funds for Justice, said it was a no-brainer to back the hotel workers, and his group is now in the process of looking for an alternate location for its April 17 event at the Westin Copley Place. The affair, which will honor Nancy K. Kaufman of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston and Dr. Deborah Frank of Boston Medical Center, is expected to draw more than 400 people. Moore added that the organization could lose as much as $25,000 if it cancels its event, but it is currently working with the hotel to try and lower that amount.
"There is a burden to this, but it's clearly a burden we are willing to pay," Moore said.
One of the big issues on the table for hotel workers, Loux said, is the "battle of the beds." The strain of lifting thicker mattresses, plush linens and multiple pillows are causing employees to "live on pain medication," she said.
Yet L. Robert Batterman, outside labor counsel for Starwood, said that many of the concerns of the union have been resolved weeks ago. He believes the union is keeping these issues alive for "public relations" purposes.
Added Batterman: "We have every expectation that this matter will be resolved peacefully and there is no reason that it shouldn't be."
What do you think of Jewish groups backing the strike?
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