Kinzie Hotel staff lodge complaint over alleged lockout

The union representing housekeeping staff at the Kinzie Hotel in River North said it has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board alleging the hotel illegally locked out housekeepers over Labor Day weekend.

The workers’ contract expired Aug. 31, according to Unite Here Local 1, the union representing housekeeping staff at the hotel. On Sept. 1, some housekeeping workers participated in an informational picket before their shift, the union said. After the picket, workers who had participated were informed that they could not return to work and were being replaced, the union said.

On Wednesday morning, housekeeping staff and supporters picketed again outside the hotel. Thirteen of about 23 Local 1 housekeeping workers at the Kinzie have been locked out, said Sarah Lyons, a union spokesperson.

A letter from the hotel sent to a locked-out worker and provided by Unite Here alleged workers had participated in an economic strike in violation of their collective bargaining agreement and would be replaced.

“You have an opportunity to apply for reinstatement after the strike,” said the letter, from general manager Karen Criss. “There is no guarantee that positions will be available, however.”

The union maintains the workers participated in an informational picket and were never on strike.

The charge Unite Here filed with the NLRB alleges hotel management locked out workers who had participated in picketing and told them they were being permanently replaced, according to a copy of the document provided by the union. It also alleges the hotel threatened to call the police on employees who picketed.

José Sánchez, who said he has worked at the Kinzie for 16 years, told the Tribune Wednesday he was locked out after picketing. Sánchez, who works preparing cleaning supplies and linens for room attendants, said he makes just under $24 an hour.

“We’re trying to support the people when they stay here,” he said. “It’s not fair” how the company is treating workers, Sánchez added.

Aide Herrera, a housekeeper who said she had worked at the Kinzie for nearly 18 years, told the Tribune she was locked out after participating in a picket on her day off.

Herrera, a single mom of three kids, one of whom has special needs, said she felt as if the hotel did not value her work.

“I need to pay my mortgage and all my bills,” Herrera said. “And I’m not working.”

The Kinzie is one of a few hotels with contracts that expired Aug. 31 that has not settled its contract with Unite Here, Lyons said. About 30 other downtown hotels with contracts that expired last month, including Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt-operated properties, have agreed to a contract the union said includes a $25 wage floor for nontipped workers and strengthens their pensions.

Before the lockout, negotiations between the union and Kinzie management had been scheduled for Sept. 19, the union said. “Instead of waiting to see if the parties could work things out, the Kinzie Hotel locked out workers over Labor Day weekend,” Unite Here said in a news release over the weekend.

Criss said in a statement Wednesday that “the Kinzie Hotel agreed to each and every term proposed by the Union before the agreement expired, including the increased compensation that matches all of the other hotels.”

Unite Here said the Kinzie had “indicated agreement” to terms of the contract that other hotels had agreed to but had asked for additional changes.

The union and the hotel are scheduled to meet Thursday.

“We value all of our employees and are happy to reiterate that increased compensation has in fact been agreed upon. The Union proposed a meeting on Thursday to discuss what we see as very minor changes to the agreement, which we hope to resolve at that time,” Criss said.