Hotel Wins Round in Labor Fight

In the escalating labor battle at the New Otani Hotel & Garden, a judge has invoked wording from an anti-stalking statute to issue an injunction barring Local 11 of the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Union from threatening, harassing or monitoring workers targeted for organizing.

In a clear victory for management of the downtown hotel, Superior Court Judge Pro Tem William A. Allen slapped an injunction late Friday on Local 11 and its president, Maria Elena Durazo. Among other things, management charged that organizers were illegally monitoring workers at their homes and harassing them at the hotel and elsewhere.

Local 11 officials deny any harassment, contending that their efforts to contact employees at the work site or at workers’ homes are legitimate. An appeal of the injunction is planned, they said, particularly of a section barring union organizers from within five yards of the homes of seven workers who allege harassment by organizers.

Meantime, in another indication of how the New Otani controversy is attracting national attention, the Rev. Jesse Jackson came to Los Angeles on Monday and announced his support of the union’s boycott of the Japanese-owned hotel.

“The battle at the Otani is an example of how we must use boycotts nationwide to fight for social justice from private employers,” Jackson, the onetime presidential contender, said in an interview after addressing workers at Local 11’s headquarters downtown. He cited successful use of the boycott during the civil rights movement in the South, and against apartheid in South Africa.

New Otani management contends that its 350 workers are treated well, are overwhelmingly against the union and oppose the boycott.

The union has been aggressively seeking the support of politicians for its boycott, and has already lined up boycott pledges from nine City Council members, three congressional representatives, 10 state legislators and county Supervisor Gloria Molina.

However, a spokeswoman for Mayor Richard Riordan disputed a published report that the mayor had agreed to support the boycott.

“We never said he would honor the boycott,” said Noelia Rodriguez, the Riordan spokeswoman.

The mayor’s position on the boycott could not be determined. Rodriguez said she had not been able to speak with him about it, and he could not be reached for comment.

Although Local 11 has received pledges of support from many labor unions, including those representing city and county workers and teachers, the boycott has hit a somewhat divisive theme within the labor movement.

The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, the AFL-CIO’s arm here, has refused to endorse the boycott because one member organization, the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 501, has balked at the action. That means the New Otani cannot now go on the AFL-CIO’s “do not patronize” list--a powerful tool for boycott organizers.

Local 501 represents the New Otani’s only union workers, 18 engineers who maintain boilers, air conditioning and other technical services. According to union officials, the unionized engineers earn up to $20 an hour, compared to $4.25 to $9 hourly wages for room attendants, restaurant workers and the great bulk of New Otani employees.

The union movement would like to present a united front against the New Otani, said David Sickler, the AFL-CIO’s Los Angeles-based regional director. But the federation’s bylaws require the approval of all locals that have a contract with the targeted employer.