Accor Workers Report Disrespect and Intimidation, According to New Website by UNITE HERE

AccorHotelAlert.Org Includes Information About Mistreatment of Workers, Model Contract Language in Case a Labor Dispute Affects Events, and More

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The hotel workers’ union UNITE HERE has launched AccorHotelAlert.org, a website to inform the public that workers have reported disrespect, intimidation, and other problems with working conditions at two Accor-operated hotels in the United States. Accor is a French hotel conglomerate.

Workers at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn, a luxury resort in California’s Sonoma Wine Country, and the Sofitel Washington DC Lafayette Square are organizing to join the UNITE HERE union because they want good jobs, safety, and respect. They are demanding a fair process to decide on unionization free from intimidation, threats, or bribes.

The website notes that the Sofitel has held mandatory anti-union meetings and threatened to change the schedule of an employee who is leading the union organizing effort. At the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn, a recent investigation by Region 20 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found evidence sufficient to prosecute 43 labor law violations, including evidence that hotel management had threatened workers for engaging in union activity, illegally interrogated employees about their union activities, and illegally promised benefits to workers if they rejected the union.

Another section on the website informs meeting planners that language in their event contracts can protect events in the event of a labor dispute and allow planners to relocate if necessary. The website provides model contract clauses for this purpose.

The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Sofitel Washington DC Lafayette Square are currently owned by Brookfield Asset Management and operated by Accor.