Yesterday I had the privilege of joining about 11 other CRs in Emeryville (near Oakland) to support a local hotel that was being unfairly harassed by the power-hungry unions of the East Bay.
At issue is the fact that the hotel recently fired 12 illegal immigrants who they had employed, after an investigation by federal authorities determined the individuals’ true immigration status. The hotel did the right thing. However, their compliance with federal law was met with anger from local unions who seized the situation as an opportunity to try to force the hotel to unionize its employees.
These unions and their front group, the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE), were at the forefront of a local ballot measure that required hotels with more than 50 rooms to meet certain labor requirements in order to do business in the city. These included such things as paying all employees no less than $9.00 per hour. So much for free markets.
The unions’ latest ploy went far beyond anti-business ballot measures. They are demanding that the Woodfin Suites Hotel violate federal law by re-hiring 12 employees who should never have been hired to begin with. Until they do so, the unions are using their members to protest outside the hotel twice a week in an attempt to drive it out of business.
When we heard what was going on, we decided to take action in support of the law-abiding hotel. 12 CRs from Davis and San Fransisco showed up to protest the union protesters. They held signs that said things such as “Support Law-Abiding Businesses,” “Pro-LEGAL Immigration,” and “Go Home Union Thugs.”
The union organizers lived up to the latter sign. After the protest, Patrick Laffey of UCD and I were walking back to our car a few blocks away when we noticed we were being followed by four of the union organizers. The first thing they did was spit on the car and tell us that we better not show our faces in Emeryville ever again. See what else happened when we pulled out a camera and recorded the rest of their threats.
I made a promise to the union thugs that we would bring twice as many people back to support the hotel. If you would like to help me make good on the promise (and have a lot of fun while we’re at it), shoot me an email (
) and I’ll let you know when the next “Union Bust” will be taking place.
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