"Don't Check In, Check Out!" Say Sheraton Workers

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

Dozens of hotel workers rallied for almost two hours outside the Sheraton Crystal City in Arlington Wednesday afternoon, thumping drums, brandishing signs reading “Boycott this hotel!” and chanting “Don’t check in, check out!” The workers have been struggling for over a year to organize their workplace but have been met with strong opposition from their employer, with workers reporting that they have been repeatedly harassed and intimidated by hotel management. UNITE HERE organizers told Union City that the company recently signed an agreement with the National Labor Relations Board to reinstate fired worker – and outspoken union advocate – Ferdi Lazo (below, at right), who was wrongfully dismissed early last year. “This is an amazing victory for myself and my pro-union coworkers,” Lazo told Union City, “but the fight is far from over. We’re going to keep fighting until we have a free and fair process for organizing.” Vice-Chairman of the Arlington County Board, Chris Zimmerman (below, at left), walked the line with the workers and told Union City, “These hard-working men and women deserve to be treated with respect and dignity and given the wages and working conditions they rightfully deserve.” He added, “When a company like this short-changes its workers, it short-changes Arlington.” Lazo was presented with a symbolic check for $24,800 by the union, Zimmerman and Northern Virginia Area Labor Federation President Dan Duncan (left, at center), representing the lost wages that the hotel will have to pay him per their agreement with the NLRB. “We’re going to stand with these workers until the day they walk through those doors with a union contract,” Duncan told Union City.
– report/photos by Adam Wright