On April 21, 2011, more than 1,500 HTC members, accompanied by an impressive list of important elected officials, came out to the rally to support the Boathouse workers in their fight for a union.The rally was the opening shot in the pressure campaign against management to remedy all unfair labor practices and to sign a contract at the Boathouse.
On April 21, 2011, more than 1,500 HTC members, accompanied by an impressive list of important elected officials, came out to the rally to support the Boathouse workers in their fight for a union.
The rally was the opening shot in the final phase of the fight for a union at the Boathouse.
"Ugly things are happening in that building," Donovan said, pointing to the Boathouse, "a sweatshop is operating right here, in Central Park"
Donovan explained how the rights of Boathouse workers were being violated by then-owner Dean Poll, asserting, "we're not going to put up with it."
Then Donovan asked those present if they could be counted on to help picket the Boathouse if Boathouse employees vote to strike.
The crowd answered with a resounding,"YES!'
Banquet Server Alejandra Betancur gave a powerful speech about the fight for a union contract at the Boathouse.
Alejandra explained that she had joined the union's Organizing Committee not only for herself, but also "to protect future female employees from the type of discrimination I endured while pregnant at the Boathouse."
Alejandra went on to tell how she had been illegally fired, along with 15 of her coworkers. "'Like replacing old chairs,' these were the words of [then] Director of Operations Anthony Walton," she told the audience.
Alejandra was one of the many employees fired on January 25, 2011 in the now infamous "Chair Massacre." That mass termination in the banquet department was only the most shocking incident in the long list of illegal acts of retaliation (including numerous other terminations) committed by Dean Poll in his desperation to crush the union organizing drive at the Boathouse.
Alejandra described how Dean Poll threw a fancy Christmas party for the employees' children, and then shortly afterwards threw their parents out onto the street.
"And that's when I really understood that no one, not a single one of us, can trust this man, Dean Poll, and that none of us are safe at this restaurant without a union contract," Alejandra explained.
Alejandra said that she and her family, like so many immigrants before them, had come to the United States to live in a country where ordinary people could have justice, freedom and equality. She then asked if New York City would destroy these aspirations by failing to hold Dean Poll accountable for his illegal acts.
"What we need here is a fair operator, someone who is going to play by the rules, and someone who is going to respect the hard work and the dignity of all the people who actually make a place like this successful!"
Stringer said that he and other New York City officials were going to "draw the line in the sand," and "we're not going to let hard working people in this city get shafted" (referring to the Boathouse employees).
"Operating a business in Central Park is not a right, it is a privilege, extended to you by the government of the City of New York" Quinn said. "To the folks running the Boathouse," she said, "this is a privilege, and the thing about a privilege is, it can be given, and it can be taken away."
Melissa Mark-Viverito, Chair of the City Council Committee responsible for overseeing the Parks Department, said that the people of New York City will not tolerate having union-busters like Dean Poll operating businesses on public property. She said that unions are too important to the working people of New York to let such things happen, because "unions stand up for the respect and dignity of workers."
Gale Brewer (who represents the Upper West Side) took the podium. Brewer told the crowd that she was proud to stand with the Boathouse workers. She agreed with the other speakers that the City will not put up with the kind of behavior Boathouse management has engaged in on public land, and she encouraged the workers to continue to organize to win.
"Before I was a Councilmember, I was a proud union member," Crowley said, "and once you're a proud union member, you're always a proud union member."
"Four years ago," Crowley said, "the Comptroller found that Dean Poll and the Boathouse wasn't paying its fair share to the City."
"But what's worse is the discrimination, the harassment, and the illegal firings happening at the Boathouse," Crowley insisted.
During the organizing drive, Barry was working at the Boathouse as a Bartender. A veteran of the Marine Corps who served as a sergeant during the Iraq War, Barry told the crowd that he had fought for our country because we have laws and rights, "including the right to organize unions."
A few weeks before the April 2011 rally, Barry was terminated from the Boathouse. Barry told the crowd that he believed his surprise firing was part of management's effort to eliminate the union's majority through the mass terminations of union supporters.
"For months, managers have been interrogating employees about who supports the union and who doesn't," Barry said. "The union has given the Labor Board a mountain of evidence to prove this. Now we know how management intended to use that information."
Barry concluded by advising Dean Poll: "Give up, man. It's already over. You can't win. Recognize our union and negotiate a fair deal. Otherwise this is a taste of what's to come."
Fernando, a cook at the Boathouse and a member of the union's Organizing Committee, explained why he and his co-workers were organizing the union.
He said that the hard work of Boathouse employees made Dean Poll a rich man.
"We do not expect to become rich by working here," Fernando said, "but we do ask Dean Poll to respect our hard work by paying us a fair wage, treating us like human beings and obeying our legal rights."
Fernando described how dishwashers earned only $7.50 an hour, pointed out that many other Boathouse employees earned only slightly more, and asked how anyone could be expected to live on such "poverty wages" in New York City.
Fernando described how "all but a tiny handful" of the employees did not have health insurance, because the plan was designed to make it impossible for most employees to be eligible, and too expensive for those who were eligible to afford.
"In my case, the cost of covering myself, my wife and my kids would be $264.16, about half my paycheck," Fernando explained.
The crowd gasped as Fernando described conditions like these in the Boathouse. Most of the people in the crowd were members of our union and enjoyed much higher pay than Boathouse workers, free family health coverage, job security, and rights to resolve their grievances at work.
"When you think about it, health insurance is enough reason by itself to want the union," Boathouse Salad Prep Cook, Arturo Cornejo, commented after Fernando's speech.
"Over half the workers at the Boathouse are Spanish-speakers," Fernando said, but "Dean Poll has never had enough respect for us to have the rules and policies of the Boathouse and employee meetings translated into the language we understand." At this the crowd interrupted Fernando and booed loudly.
Fernando pointed out, however, that Dean Poll always made sure that his anti-union propaganda was translated into Spanish.
Boathouse Cook David Gatica commented, "I was glad Fernando talked about this because once, I was personally called into a private meeting with Dean Poll and he lectured and criticized me for speaking Spanish in his anti-union captive audience meeting because I wanted my co-workers to understand what I was saying."
Fernando described how Dean Poll would insult the intelligence of employees by trying to bribe them with insignificant improvements in conditions in the hope of undermining worker support for the union.
"But we have not forgotten the years of abuse, cruelty, and mistreatment," Fernando said. "We have NOT forgotten the heartless firings and layoffs of our friends. We are smart enough to understand very well that we must win this fight or we will have no future at the Boathouse."
Amazingly, then-Councilmember Letitia James managed to get the crowd even more pumped up, at first, by leading union chants, and then, with her eloquent and crystal clear words.
"I raise my voice and I tell the Boathouse that if you don't want any trouble from a loudmouth in Brooklyn, you'd better do the right thing and respect the workers' rights," she said, to the loud cheers of the audience.
After Letitia James spoke, Jim Donovan asked the workers present to go back into their shops and spread the word of what they heard at the rally. He told them to be prepared to support a strike if the Boathouse workers vote for one. The crowd loudly demonstrated their enthusiasm and support for any actions needed to help the Boathouse workers.
Room Attendant Gladys Natal of the Jumeirah Essex House Hotel commented as the rally adjourned, "Dean Poll should just negotiate a fair contract because now he's got thousands of hotel and restaurant workers mad as hell at him."
On August 9, 2011, the Boathouse workers walked off the job. The strike lasted nearly 8 weeks – and was extremely effective. The public support for the strikers was overwhelming. Thousands of guests turned away at the door when they spoke to the picketers.
On September 21, 2011, Boathouse management finally signed a tentative agreement. The next day, the Boathouse strikers called an end to the strike, voting unanimously to ratify the union contract.
The Boathouse workers' first union contract provided for substantial and immediate wage increases, raising a large portion of the Boathouse staff out of poverty. It also corrected the gross inequities that had existed.
Before their first contract, only 3 non-managerial employees at the Boathouse had health coverage. After winning the contract, the workers and their families all gained access to health coverage paid for by the employer.
Before their first contract, Boathouse employees had no paid sick days, holidays or personal days. After winning the contract, they gained these paid benefit days.
The contract also required management to reinstate all of the workers who had been fired for supporting the union with full back pay. It required management to treat the workers with dignity and respect – and provided a grievance procedure where violations of the contract could be effectively raised and resolved.
Throughout the multi-year organizing drive and the public fight with management, Boathouse employees had the power of our union and its membership behind them. Approximately 4,000 HTC members volunteered throughout the fight to help the strike – from joining the picket line, to leafletting throughout Central Park.
