March Across Emeryville For Justice for Woodfin Workers
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Rally at 5 pm at the Emeryville City Hall (Park St. at Hollis)
*If you're coming on public transit, take BART to the MacArthur station
and take the free Emery-Go-Round shuttle (Hollis Route). The shuttle stops
on the corner of Park and Hollis.
March at 6 pm to the Woodfin Suites (5800 Shellmound)
Housekeepers at the Woodfin Suites Hotel are still struggling to keep
their jobs after standing up for their rights under Emeryville's living
wage law. Throughout the country, immigrant workers are fighting to work,
support their families, and be treated fairly in a climate of racism,
scapegoating and violent immigration raids. Come join Woodfin workers,
faith leaders, Emeryville residents and friends in a ceremonial procession
from Emeryville's City Hall, through the Bay Street shopping center, and
on to the Woodfin Suites. Show the Woodfin and other Emeryville businesses
that we will stand with the housekeepers, and all immigrant workers, until
they are free to work with dignity.
Background:
In 2005, Emeryville voters passed Measure C, a ballot measure intended to
improve wages and working conditions in the city's hotels. The Woodfin
Suites Hotel led the campaign against Measure C, filed two separate
lawsuits seeking to overturn it, and illegally underpaid housekeepers for
more than a year after the living wage went into effect.
When Woodfin workers blew the whistle on the hotels violations of Measure
C, managers began harassing and threatening them. In December, the Woodfin
fired 21 workers, including nearly all the housekeepers who had led the
campaign to enforce Measure C. The Woodfin claimed that it had found
problems with the workers' immigration status. But the workers had been on
the job for up to five years without problems until they stood up for
their rights.
Workers returned to the hotel two weeks later, thanks to an outcry from
the community and an injunction issued by a state court judge. But the
injunction expires on April 20th, and the Woodfin still insists that it
plans to fire the workers. The hotel has also refused to pay more than
$200,000 in back wages owed to workers.
