National Labor Relations Board orders HTH management to obey the law.

ILWUrank-and-filemembers fromtheHonoluluStar-Advertiser, ILWULocalExecutiveBoardmembers andsupporters fromthe30thWesternRegionalSummerInstitute forUnionWomenralliedonJune 17,2011tocallforHTHmanagement to stop the delays and injustices to workers of the Pacific Beach Hotel.

The June 14, 2011, NLRB decision in favor of the union is a huge victory in the fight for justice for the workers of the Pacific Beach Hotel.

“We call on HTH and the management of the Pacific Beach Hotel to obey the law and negotiate a fair union contract with the ILWU for the workers of the hotel. The NLRB ruled in favor of nearly all of the union’s complaints and rejected HTH arguments and objections to the actions and decisions of the labor board,” said ILWU Oahu Division Director Dave Mori.

“The clear legal arguments and strongly worded decision of the three-member panel of the National Labor Relations Board leaves no doubt that any further appeal and delay by HTH Corporation would be futile and pointless. It would prolong the injustice suffered by the workers of the Pacific Beach Hotel, and it would be an irrational waste of money for HTH,” added Mori.

On Friday, June 17, 2011, from 2:15 pm to 3:15 pm the ILWU held a rally at the Pacific Beach Hotel to support justice for the workers and call on HTH management to obey the law.

Summary of NLRB decision 
A three-member panel of the National Labor Relations Board in Washington D.C. rejected HTH Corporation’s objections and adopted most of the decisions of Administrative Law Judge James M. Kennedy which found the hotel in violation of numerous provisions of federal labor law. Furthermore, the NLRB panel imposed new remedies based on the findings of the NLRB General Counsel which went beyond the recommendations made by Judge Kennedy

The decision was issued on June 14, 2011, and gives HTH management 14 days to comply with the order. The Board is the highest policy making body of the federal agency charged with administering and enforcing the National Labor Relations Act which protects workers’ rights to organize into unions.

The NLRB panel agreed with Judge Kennedy and the General Counsel that the new 90-day probationary period imposed by management of the Pacific Beach Hotel in Waikiki was unlawful. Judge Kennedy did not specifically require the hotel to reinstate and make whole any employee who failed to pass this probationary period. However, the NLRB will order HTH to reinstate and make whole (pay any lost wages and benefits) any employee dismissed during the new probationary period, unless the dismissal was for just cause

he union’s complaint that HTH violated the law when it rehired a number of employees but assigned them to different jobs at lower wages. The NLRB agreed with the General Counsel that these employees should be reinstated to their former jobs and made whole for any lost wages.

Judge Kennedy found that HTH violated the law when it closed the Hotel’s Shogun Restaurant and permanently laid off restaurant employees. The General Counsel did not seek a remedy for these employees and the NLRB ordered Judge Kennedy to review the issue and determine whether a make-whole remedy is appropriate for the affected employees.

The NLRB will order HTH to offer full reinstatement to the seven union supporters fired by the company. They are Keith Kapena Kanaiaupuni, Darryl Miyashiro, Todd Hatanaka, Rhandy Villanueva, Virginia Recaido, Ruben Bumanglag, and Virbina Revamonte. If their former jobs are no longer available, they shall be offered substantially equivalent positions, with the same seniority and other rights, and made whole for any loss of earnings and benefits as a result of the discrimination against them.

Backpay and other monetary damages will be paid with interest compounded on a daily basis. All records of their unlawful discharge will be removed from their employee records.

The NLRB also ordered the company to resume bargaining with the ILWU, to furnish all information requested by the union, and to reinstate all tentative agreements reached in prior negotiation sessions.

All employees not rehired on December 1, 2007, will be offered full reinstatement to their former jobs or equivalent positions with no loss of seniority or any other rights. The hotel will also make them whole for any loss of earnings and other benefits, with interest compounded daily.

The NLRB ordered the hotel to reimburse the union for all negotiating expenses from January 5, 2006, until December 1, 2007 and for a responsible corporate executive to read the NLRB’s order in a meeting of employees

The panel rejected HTH’s claims that Judge Kennedy was prejudiced and biased against the company.

HTH Appeals 
In the latest news, on July 13, 2011, HTH has petitoned the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for a review of the NLRB decision. 

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