Sheraton Workers Keep Battling For Justice

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

It was just another Saturday night in Arlington. Except for the giant “Boycott” illuminating the side of the Sheraton Crystal City high above the steady stream of traffic on Jefferson Davis Highway. “Sheraton you’re no good, treat your workers as you should!” chanted dozens of hotel workers and their community allies, merrily thumping drums and shaking rattle cans. The workers – who have been fighting for a “fair, democratic and neutral process to unionize” since February 2009 – say they are fed up with hotel owner HEI’s greed and mistreatment of its workers. “They treat us like slaves,” Santana Alvarez – a kitchen worker and housekeeper with almost 10 years tenure – told Union City. “They force each of us to do the work of three people or else they tell us to leave. We’re tired of being abused but we won’t give up. We’re going to win this fight.” UNITE HERE Local 25 representatives said while HEI continues to gobble up hotels across the country, they have dramatically slashed the workforce by 30 percent and increased workloads for the remaining workers, as well as increasing the cost of health care and providing less coverage than before. “You are not in this fight alone,” said Arlington County Board Member Walter Tejada. “We’re committed to your fight for fairness and justice – what’s good for the workers of this great county is good for the whole community. We will do everything we can to help you win this struggle.” - story/photo by Adam Wright