What Frequent Stay Points Get You at the Glendale Hilton
So Unite Here Local 11, that union shop trying to organize Glendale Hilton workers, was all set this morning to register their displeasure at a meeting of the state Lottery Commission at Pasadena City Hall, but they ended up handing them kudos instead.
The campaign had intended to pressure the Lottery to honor their boycott and stop putting up out-of-town contestants appearing on The Big Spin, which is shot at KCET studios in Hollywood. Their leverage -- an allegation that Lottery Director of Broadcasting Richard Leeson, who oversees hotel contracting for the show, is receiving kickbacks from the Hilton in the from of "Hilton Honors" points -- more than 96,800 points. According to their relesae:
This is more than enough for a free night at the Grand Wailea Resort in Hawaii, two nights at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, three nights at the Glendale Hilton, or up to twelve nights at other Hilton hotels.Despite having been notified of these kickbacks, the Lottery Commissioners continue to allow their staff to do business with the Glendale Hilton in violation of the workers' boycott. On May 24, hotel workers and other concerned members of the public will call on the Commissioners to honor the boycott and answer for this unseemly use of public funds.
They were all set to rock, until Unite Here's Ty Hudson said he received a phone call Wednesday morning from a Lottery attorney saying the state agency has ended its contract with the Hilton, and is conducting an investigation. "It's a victory for us," Hudson told me today.
A call from a Lottery spokesman confirmed they had cancelled their Hilton contract yesterday for a cause, but it wasn't for the union, whose campaign they are impartial to. He declined to give further information, and would not say whether an investigation is being carried out or if it has anything to do with the union's allegations against Leeson, as they don't comment on personnel or matters that could involve litigation.
Follow the link to see the union's May 22 release...
For immediate release:
May 22, 2007
State Employee Receives Kickbacks for Steering California Lottery Business to Boycotted Hotel
70% of Glendale Hilton workers have called for boycott of their workplace
WHAT: Hotel workers and community allies ask Lottery Commission to honor boycott, repudiate hotel contract clouded by the appearance of impropriety
WHEN: Thursday, May 24, 2007
TIME: 10:00 am
WHERE: Pasadena City Hall Council Chambers, 100 N. Garfield Ave, Pasadena, CA
WHO: Glendale Hilton workers, religious and community leaders from Glendale and the surrounding area
Glendale Hilton hotel workers have been struggling for over a year for the right to organize, but their efforts were met with fierce resistance by hotel management. Workers cite poverty wages, a lack of affordable health insurance, and dangerous working conditions as some of the issues they face.
In April of 2006, 70% of the workers at the Glendale Hilton signed a petition calling on customers to boycott the hotel. Since then, the boycott of the Glendale Hilton along with a boycott of other hotels owned by the same company has cost the owner, Eagle Hospitality, more than $1 million in lost business.
Lottery Director of Broadcasting Richard Leeson has known about the boycott since shortly after it began, but has refused to support workers who are struggling to escape poverty. The Lottery continues to house scores of Big Spin contestants in the Glendale Hilton on a monthly basis, exposing lottery winners to picket lines and other protests. Dozens of supporters from the Sacramento and Bay Area community have visited two previous Lottery Commission meetings in Sacramento and asked the Commissioners to honor the boycott, only to have their calls go unheeded by officials appointed to serve the public. Now, Glendale Hilton workers will confront the Commissioners face to face.
UNITE HERE, the union assisting the Glendale Hilton workers in their organizing efforts, has discovered that Lotter Director of Broadcasting Richard Leeson, the state employee responsible for contracting with a hotel to provide housing to Big Spin contestants, is receiving kickbacks from the hotel in the form of at least at least 96,800 "Hilton Honors" points. This is more than enough for a free night at the Grand Wailea Resort in Hawaii, two nights at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, three nights at the Glendale Hilton, or up to twelve nights at other Hilton hotels.
Despite having been notified of these kickbacks, the Lottery Commissioners continue to allow their staff to do business with the Glendale Hilton in violation of the workers' boycott. On May 24, hotel workers and other concerned members of the public will call on the Commissioners to honor the boycott and answer for this unseemly use of public funds.