ANNALS OF LABOR Biltmore workers cite rising tensions BY STEVEN STYCOS

Management at the Providence Biltmore Hotel is trying to intimidate immigrant workers and illegally discourage peaceful picketing, say union leaders and members at the hotel. In one case, they say, a worker was barred from speaking about the ongoing contract dispute.

The contract between the Biltmore and the Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders Union, Local 217, expired October 1, and new bargaining has not been scheduled. Union members worry that the hotel plans to subcontract banquet work to the forthcoming McCormick & Schmick’s restaurant, eliminating 50 union jobs. Frustrated with the Biltmore’s refusal to guarantee that it will not sub-contract, the union is organizing a boycott of the hotel while working without a contract.

Biltmore General Manager Jonathan Shisler didn’t return phone calls for comment from the Phoenix. Providence developer Arnold "Buff" Chace, a part owner, and John Cullen, head of the Chesapeake Hotel Group that operates the hotel, also didn’t return calls. In a November 14 press release, the hotel called the boycott "ill advised, counterproductive and illogical," because it would divert business to non-union hotels which pay "much lower wages and benefits."

The work environment at the Biltmore is tense, says housekeeping steward Laura Rodriguez, who cites, "A lot of pressure and discrimination for Hispanic people, for immigrant people." Her supervisor urged housekeepers not to picket during a wedding at the hotel, Rodriguez says, indicating that picketers lose his respect.

The hotel’s housekeepers are predominantly Hispanic and Portuguese immigrants who are not US citizens, Rodriguez says. Maintenance and banquet staff, who are predominantly white and US citizens, have not received similar warnings, she notes. "They’re mostly trying to hit the immigrants," says Biltmore maintenance worker Larry Tunstall, "because they think they don’t know what’s going on."

Housekeepers and other workers were also threatened with discipline when they started clapping and tapping spoons to show their solidarity during lunch in the employee cafeteria, union members say. To stop the noise, general manager Shisler told the group if they did not cease, they would be "written up," says Local 217 organizer Jenna Karlin, who was present for the protest.

Peaceful protests during employees’ own time is protected legal activity under federal law. At the union’s request, the National Labor Relations Board is investigating, but even if the government determines that workers were unlawfully intimidated, the law provides for no fines or criminal penalties.

Tunstall encountered a different problem when he was asked to address the United Nurses and Allied Professionals’ (UNAP) conference at the Biltmore on November 12 after he finished work. Traditionally, Tunstall says, employees ask Shisler for permission to reenter the hotel for a function. Approval is routine, he relates, but this time Shisler said no, Tunstall says, stating that a speech might be adding fuel to the fire.

When the conference ended, UNAP representatives complained and told management they would not book next year’s conference at the hotel. Then, as they waited for the elevator, the UNAP members found themselves being videotaped by two men, relates Myra Cavallaro, executive vice president of the Rhode Island Hospital local. Shortly thereafter, more than a dozen Providence police officers arrived in riot gear to investigate, she relates. "It was like they wanted to provoke something," Cavallaro says.

Picketing union members are also videotaped, says Tunstall, who adds that barricades have been unnecessarily placed on the sidewalk in front of the hotel to force picketers to walk in the street.