Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice - CLUE
The hotel industry is one of the fastest growing industries in our economy. At the heart of this growing industry are the hard-working people who make the beds, prepare the meals and greet guests at the front door. Unfortunately, hotel workers who provide hospitality to travelers and guests are often denied living wages, fair working conditions and basic human dignity by the hotels that employ them.
Across the United States, hotel workers are coming together to improve their working and living conditions. This movement, Hotel Workers Rising, hopes to turn hotel jobs into middle-class jobs, fighting the crisis of working poverty in our country.
Right here in Rochester, workers at the Crowne Plaza Hotel are asking management for a free and fair choice about forming a union. The average housekeeper salary at the Crowne Plaza is $7.30. Many Crowne workers earn well below the federal poverty line and many are unable to afford health care. As a result, hotel workers in Rochester are joining the nationwide movement to improve their lives.
They're not alone in this struggle. Many Rochester clergy know that workers who try to form unions are harassed and threatened by their employers. These clergy members also know that federal labor laws and the NLRB process do little to protect workers' rights. To help Rochester's hotel workers get a free and fair choice about forming a union, Rochester clergy have formed Rochester CLUE - Rochester Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice. Since 2006, Rochester CLUE has been working to level the playing field for Rochester's hotel workers, starting with workers at the Crowne Plaza.
Rochester CLUE created Community Organizing Standards to ensure a free and fair process for workers. Unfortunately, Crowne Plaza owner Dr. Tzong-Jer Wei and General Manager Paul Kremp have refused to agree to these standards and have consistently violated them. They have already refused repeated requests to meet with their employees.
CLUE presented more than 3000 signatures in support of economic justice for hotel workers to the General Manager of the Hotel in July of this year and is now announcing that a boycott will start on March 1 unless Crowne Plaza workers are allowed to freely decide, without management interference, whether they want a union.
CLUE has begun contacting customers of the Crowne Plaza to let them know about the union campaign and to ask them to support the workers and their efforts by not using the hotel effective March 1.
While no one wants to have to boycott, management has not done the right thing by its workers. They have not provided them a fair process and will only understand how serious CLUE is as they lose valuable business to the hotel. The clergy calling for this boycott is historic. Rev. Kaaren Anderson serves on the leadership team, and currently has about 100 members and friends signed on to this work with various activities. If you'd like to know more or to get involved yourself, wonderful! Just send Rev. Anderson an email at: kaaren@rochesterunitarian.org.
November 29 2007