Workers Stage Informational Pickets Outside Pikesville Hilton

Pikesville Hilton, nestled between the rumble of 695 and Reisterstown Road, offers the well-heeled traveler $189.00 per night comfort. According to the workers picketing outside the hotel, they have not been treated with the same dignity and respect accorded the guests.

On Thursday, June 6 about 50 picketers walked and chanted in single file along Reisterstown Road shouting, "The union, united, will never be defeated!" Another chant, "Pikesville Hilton, Rich and Rude, We don't like your attitude!" was heard. Workers from Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE), Local 7 of the AFL-CIO were joined by other unions in the informational picket drawing attention to their grievances against the hotel.

Merit Pay Rejected by HERE

The key issue involved in the contentious talks is management's desire to introduce "merit pay" (pay raises at the discretion of management) instead of across-the-board raises. Unions historically oppose "merit pay" which, according to the workers and union representatives who participated in the picket line leads to favoritism.

Darlene Penn and Beverly Samuels, two African American women, described the current situation of workers at Hilton. According to the two women union members, "The workers in housekeeping make about $7.05 per hour." Darlene explained that many of the women in housekeeping are single mothers who must work at more than one job to make ends meet. Though there are seasonal spikes in hotel use, workers are not given a chance to work overtime. "Supervisors get the overtime work - only the supervisors." When winter arrives and rooms are vacant, workers' hours are cut back. As a result, many workers face less than a 40-hour work week. Some do not make the necessary 30 hours required to receive benefits.

Darlene Penn complained about the healthcare offered through her Hilton job. For the worker, healthcare is free, but "if you add one child on the policy, the amount you have to pay goes to $90 per month." Another issue brought up by the housekeeping staff was that Hilton management has demanded that they increase from 15 to 16 the number of rooms they clean in a shift.

With 3 sick days per year, a modicum of holidays (not including Martin Luther King's Birthday), the employees hopes for a decent contract have been placed on the union negotiations. Darlene Penn recalled that when the hotel was first organized, "I was against the union. Now you can't shut me up."

HERE Revitalizes Union Organizing in Baltimore

HERE is committed to the struggle and has enlisted the backing of Baltimore's Central Labor Council and local progressive groups including ACORN, NAACP and the Coalition Against Global Exploitation (CAGE).

Describing an uphill battle, the Union's researcher, Nick Weiner talked about the struggle to unionize service labor in Baltimore. "About 15 years ago, there was erosion in unions representing workers in the hotel and restaurant industry in Baltimore. The strength of the union in a specific locality makes a difference when you negotiate. Hotel workers are paid significantly higher wages and benefits in cities like New York, Washington D.C., and San Francisco where a large number of hotel employees are unionized. That's why HERE is revitalizing its union work in Baltimore." Of 300,000 workers unionized nationally, there are only 1,800 locally. With the exception of the Wyndham, none of the other Inner Harbor hotels are unionized. Some of the HERE employees work for Oriole Park at Camden Yards concessions, Morgan State University food services, the Convention Center, Peabody Institute Cafeteria, and Martin's Catering.

According to union officials, the general manager of the Pikesville Hilton is Nicholas Mangione, Jr. His family owns Mangione Enterprises, a web of businesses in Maryland, including Turf ValleyResort and Conference Center, Hayfield Country Club, Maryland Health Systems' Lorien Nursing Homes, AM Radio Stations 680, 1330 and 1360 and a construction company. Contract talks startedin mid-January or February, and the contract expired in April according to Weiner, who stated that negotiations with Mangione have been very slow because of their insistence on "merit pay." Since the beginning of the talks, union officials have brought labor charges against the Hilton franchise for harassment of union workers. One union activist complained that her husband had been hassled for coming to pick her up when the security staff were well aware his purpose for being at the hotel.

When asked to respond to issues the union is raising, Hilton told an IMC journalist that Mr. Mangione was on vacation. IMC left several messages with hotel management that have gone unanswered.