LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to UNITE HERE Local 11, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board has authorized a complaint against the Terranea Resort alleging violations of the rights of its employees under the National Labor Relations Act. Among other claims, the General Counsel found potential merit to allegations that Terranea management prohibited workers from exercising their right to support union organizing efforts during their breaks. The resort, majority owned by JC Resorts, is operated by an affiliate of Lowe Enterprises, Inc., a prolific hospitality developer that recently won approval for developments in San Diego, CA, Charleston, South Carolina and Culver City, CA and is seeking approvals for a hotel development in Aspen, CO. The charges were filed after workers asked Terranea managers for a fair process to organize a union last October.
“We are extremely disappointed that a Lowe-affiliated management company would engage in these alleged activities against workers,” said Kurt Petersen, co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11, the hospitality workers union affiliate for Los Angeles, Orange County and Southern Arizona. “This is why Terranea workers need a fair process that is free from threats, intimidation, and interference to determine whether they want to unionize."
"We are encouraged that the NLRB stood up for our rights at work" said Francisco Santos, a cook at the Terranea Resort. "We urge the Terranea to let us decide whether we want union representation in an atmosphere free of intimidation."
The complaint was authorized in the wake of Time Magazine's recognition of Sandra Pezqueda, who was employed as a dishwasher at the Terranea through a staffing agency, as one of their "People of the Year" for standing up to sexual harassment at work. According to Time Magazine's Person of the Year cover story, "Pezqueda filed a suit alleging that her supervisor at the Terranea Resort, a luxury retreat in South California, pursued her for months. When she rebuffed him, he changed her schedule and cut her hours."
UNITE HERE Local 11 has called on Terranea to agree to a fair process that assures Terranea’s housekeepers, food servers, cooks, and other workers can decide whether they want union representation in an atmosphere that is free from management pressure tactics.