Workers call on LA County to find new homeless housing operator amid labor concerns

Workers astatine a government-run stateless lodging installation successful Central Long Beach are calling connected Los Angeles County to find a caller relation for the tract amid ongoing labour concerns.

The site, 1133 Atlantic Ave., is simply a erstwhile Holiday Inn that LA County bought precocious past year arsenic portion of the state’s Project Homekey initiative, which provided backing for section governments to acquisition hotels and person them into stateless housing.

Workers determination person said the facility’s operators, Holliday’s Helping Hands and Advance Nursing Services, didn’t instrumentality due wellness and information precautions astatine the tallness of the coronavirus pandemic — and that absorption has illegally surveilled their attempts to unionize. The companies, which person the aforesaid owners, person denied immoderate wrongdoing.

Employees filed a ailment astir the site’s COVID-19 information protocols with California’s Division Of Occupational Safety & Health earlier this year, which is inactive pending. UNITE HERE Local 11, meanwhile, filed a ailment connected behalf of the workers with the National Labor Relations Board astir the alleged interference with union-organizing efforts; that ailment concluded with a colony statement precocious past month.

Taken together, the folks who enactment astatine the tract accidental LA County should extremity its narration with the operators and alternatively declaration with companies committed to treating their workers better.

Mark Spring, an lawyer for Holliday’s Helping Hands and Advance Nursing Services, said some companies person afloat complied with the law.

He pointed to an probe the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services conducted based connected the wellness and information allegations, which recovered COVID-19 protocols astatine the installation were adequate. He besides noted that Cal/OSHA conducted an probe successful May and has not issued immoderate citation oregon followed up with the operators since.

“Holliday Helping Hands believes precise powerfully that the information and wellness of its employees is of paramount value and concern, peculiarly during the pandemic,” Spring said successful an email. “It is assured that it complied with the applicable grooming requirements and information protocols and is prepared to beryllium so, if necessary.”

Spring besides said successful a telephone interrogation that the facility’s operators did not interruption workers’ close to organize, and that the companies did not admit immoderate responsibility with the colony agreement.

“They wouldn’t bash thing that violated the National Labor Relations Act,” helium said.

“We were comfy with signing that” colony agreement, Spring added, “so that we tin give our resources to serving the clients successful the area, the stateless community, arsenic opposed to warring a ineligible battle.”

While Spring emphasized that the statement “didn’t incorporate immoderate statements of decision oregon wrongdoing,” and that his clients wouldn’t person signed it if that were the case, the workers and national seeking to correspond them spot it differently.

Representatives of UNITE HERE Local 11 said the colony statement successful and of itself is grounds that the NLRB recovered merit to the charges. If the bureau recovered nary grounds of wrongdoing, national officials said, the committee would person dismissed the complaint.

A spokesperson for the NLRB declined to remark on-the-record astir the board’s probe process and whether a colony statement could beryllium reached without immoderate grounds to enactment a complaint’s allegations.

But Christopher Cameron, manager of Southwestern Law School’s Labor and Employment Law Concentration, said the NLRB has constricted clip and resources, truthful the bureau apt wouldn’t nonstop its vigor toward a colony statement if determination were nary grounds to enactment a complaint.

“I would ne'er accidental ‘never’ astir thing successful the law,” Cameron said. “Is it imaginable the committee mightiness settee a lawsuit earlier uncovering a complaint is meritorious? Sure, it’s possible. But successful my experience, that’s beauteous unusual.

“They astir apt wouldn’t walk clip trying to settee a case,” helium added, “if they didn’t deliberation determination was immoderate merit to it.”

Specifically, the ailment said aggregate members of absorption attended a virtual organizing gathering without disclosing their identities and that absorption interrogated a idiosyncratic astir national activities.

Spring declined to accidental whether those incidents happened.

“Our presumption is: We didn’t bash thing that violated the National Labor Relations Act,” helium said. “We person a close to pass our employees astir our point-of-view connected the union, the unionization, and my clients did that successful a mode that complies with the National Labor Relations Act.”

Under the colony agreement, Holliday’s Helping Hands and Advance Nursing Services indispensable station flyers informing workers of their close to unionize and perpetrate not to inquire employees astir organizing efforts oregon to surveil Zoom meetings astir unionizing.

UNITE Here Local 11, which is seeking to correspond the workers, sees the statement arsenic impervious of wrongdoing.

“Holliday’s Helping Hands, which contracts with LA County, present has the favoritism of being the archetypal institution to get caught illegally snooping connected a national organizing gathering held by its workers connected Zoom,” Kurt Petersen, co-president of UNITE Here Local 11, said successful a statement. “That’s not thing to beryllium arrogant of.”

Petersen said LA County officials should reassess who operates the facility.

“After this latest outrageous conduct, I would beryllium shocked if the County ever hired the institution again to run its facilities,” helium said. “It should beryllium instantly debarred arsenic a County contractor.”

But that seems unlikely.

LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose Fourth District includes the site, said successful a connection that she was disappointed to perceive the accusations against the operators. But she stopped abbreviated of saying the region would cease moving with them.

“Running these shelters is simply a unsocial service,” Hahn said. “I americium disappointed that this contractor violated labour laws.

“I americium grateful that some sides person agreed to determination guardant and enactment together,” she added. “We don’t person to take betwixt serving the stateless and protecting our labour laws and we are going to marque definite this doesn’t hap again.”

A spokesperson for Hahn declined to remark specifically connected whether the supervisor believes LA County should support its declaration with Holliday’s Helping Hands and Advance Nursing Services.

The folks who enactment astatine the site, meanwhile, said successful caller interviews that if the 2 companies proceed operating the facility, they anticipation unionizing volition astatine slightest let them to amended their moving conditions.

“We privation to beryllium capable to enactment astatine a spot wherever we’re treated with dignity and respect,” Maria Isabel Borja, a housekeeper astatine the site, said successful Spanish. “Frankly, close now, I don’t truly person religion successful the company, and I privation the region to measurement up and bash much and let america to person the union.

“This is what we want,” she added, “and this is what we deliberation deserve.”

Patricia Esparza, different housekeeper astatine the site, agreed.

“What I anticipation to execute with a national is to conscionable truly person a voice,” she said successful Spanish, “to person an existent dependable successful the job, wherever I’m heard — conscionable an accidental to truly talk up, is what I anticipation to gain.”

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