Boathouse employees are signing up to join our union

The courageous, hard-working employees at the Boathouse restaurant, express café and banquet facility in Central Park want to be members of our Union. A large majority of the employees have signed union authorization cards and a petition has been filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a vote by the workers to join the Hotel Trades Council. An election and subsequent certification of the Union could occur in the near future, unless Boathouse management starts using stalling tactics at the NLRB and/or in court to go along with the anti-employee attitude it has already displayed through the dozens of unfair labor practices (ULPs) it has committed.

The Boathouse employees have bravely faced an onslaught of intimidation, interrogation, threats, firings and other ULPs at the hands of management since the organizing drive began, some of which were reported last week by Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez. The Boathouse is operated by Dean Poll, who has been found guilty of unfair labor practices in the past.

Poll is also the person who in late 2009 won the exclusive right to negotiate a new lease at Tavern on the Green. The Request for Proposals issued by the City regarding Tavern on the Green contained a provision that the former employees would be rehired by the new operator. This provision led Poll and the Union to have contract talks. But after months of farcical negotiations, during which Poll made ludicrous contract demands, the Bloomberg administration pulled the plug on the talks.

The announcement that Poll had won the right to negotiate a new lease with the City for Tavern on the Green led to an organizing campaign at the Boathouse. That organizing drive has been the source of dozens of stories of courage by the workers, who are trying to join our Union in spite of a brutal opposition campaign by management.

The workers have stood up to Dean Poll and his management team at captive audience meetings and during individual interrogations. Boathouse management knows it is illegal to fire workers for exercising their right to join a union, and yet many employees have nevertheless been terminated. In these cases management has used the term "layoffs" to excuse the firings. In the case of 16 banquet workers who were fired only one day after the NLRB was in the Boathouse investigating previous unfair labor practice charges, Poll basically admitted the actions were not layoffs in the customary sense of the word. He said the workers were replaced with outside employees, telling the Daily News, "It's much easier to hire by outsourcing. That way I can pay just one check to a single company." At least 14 of the 16 fired banquet workers were known supporters of the Union. The fact that they were fired just one day after the NLRB was in the Boathouse investigating previous ULP charges prompted one employee to say, "Gee. What a coincidence."

In the mass firing, which was captured on audiotape, manager Anthony Walton compared the workers to furniture, saying they were as replaceable as the chairs in the restaurant. It was just another example of the disrespect management has displayed towards the Boathouse employees.

"We insist that these workers and others that were fired by Poll for union activity must be restored to their jobs," Hotel Trades Council President Peter Ward said. "The fact is that in 33 years at this Union I have never seen more flagrant violations of workers' rights than I have seen at the Boathouse. We have irrefutable proof that Boathouse management has violated the law and we are presenting this evidence to the NLRB."

As we went to press, the Union had filed dozens of ULP charges against the Boathouse. If Poll is found guilty on any of these charges, his lease with the City could be jeopardized. Poll's license agreement specifically states that he could lose his right to operate the Boathouse if it is found that he violated any federal, state and/or city law.

The Boathouse sits on public property, in effect meaning that it is owned by the people of New York, including the workers that Poll is abusing. Thus it is indeed ironic that Poll is using a public facility to violate the law.

It should be noted that Poll was forced to settle multiple Boathouse ULP charges already, causing him to be required to read a statement saying that he would respect his employees' right to organize and pledging not to "threaten closing the business, interfere with, restrain or coerce workers in the exercise of their right to support the Union."

Unfortunately, it didn't take long for Poll to break his word, as he and his managers continued to commit multiple ULPs after he read the statement. This should come as no surprise, however, as Poll is a repeat offender with an established history of violating labor laws. Poll was not only found guilty of ULPs years ago in another restaurant he operated, he has been sued by his banquet employees at the Boathouse and he was the cause of an impromptu walkout there in 2008.

"He is nowhere near being a model employer," one worker told Hotel Voice. "We do not have any job security without the Union and we are treated badly in the workplace. We are organizing because we think we should be treated with respect. We are loyal, dedicated employees, and we deserve better than to have our employer threatening us if we join the Union."

As we went to press, the NLRB was considering the petition for an election by the workers to join our Union and was further investigating the numerous unfair labor practices committed by Boathouse management.

"I have had the pleasure of meeting many of the Boathouse employees and they are a determined and dedicated group of men and women," Peter Ward said. "I have never seen a more blatant or more intimidating anti-union campaign than we are seeing right now by Boathouse management. But the Boathouse workers are showing great courage, and I am very confident that they will be victorious in exercising their right to join our Union and bargain collectively for a contract. These workers have our full support and I know they can count on the support of our entire membership as well."