March for Justice for Sheraton Crystal City Workers

From: NoVA Hotel Workers Rising UNITE-HERE

HEI Hotels and Resorts, owner of the Sheraton Crystal City, is one of the fastest growing hotel management companies in the US. While it owns a hotel, HEI employs a range of techniques to bring costs down. Employees have experienced reduced hours and layoffs, shortages in cleaning supplies and basic materials, and increased workloads – especially in housekeeping. 


Now, HEI workers are fighting back! In February 2009, workers at the Sheraton Crystal City in Northern Virginia joined HEI workers at the Le Meridien in San Francisco and Hilton Long Beach in a national campaign for fairness. Supported by student activists and local community leaders, workers presented their general manager with a demand for a fair and democratic process for deciding whether to form a union, without management interference.


At each hotel where workers have demanded justice, HEI has laidoff or disciplined union activists. As workers have campaigned at the Sheraton Crystal City, HEI has required them to attend anti-union meetings on work time, circulated leaflets accusing the union making “worthless promises”, interrogated workers about their involvement in the union, and laid off union supporters, including union leader, Hermen Romero. Now, HEI managers have fired union leader Ferdi Lazo. On May 22, Ferdi and his coworkers led a delegation to their manager to raise concerns about the lack of work supplies and recent lay offs. After the delegation, Ferdi was interrogated by a manager about his involvement in the union. Just five days later, Ferdi was fired, allegedly for being late to work on one occasion.

“I am fighting – one, because of the discrimination, and two, because of the lack of respect. The bosses want us to quit, but we will keep fighting until we win justice.”

-Virginia Portillo, Housekeeper, Sheraton Crystal City

“We surveyed two thirds of the housekeeping department, including me and discovered that of those surveyed, 100% are in pain because of our workload. 90% are taking medicine because of the pain. 70% have had a serious accident at work… This company is earning millions off our backs.”

-Nancy Ramirez, Housekeeper, Sheraton Crystal City

“We work hard to serve large banquets, but HEI doesn’t pay us any of the gratuity. I also work in the Doubletree and know that things can be better. There we are paid a gratuity equal to 14% of the bill because of the Union contract that we have won.

-Sandra Medina, Banquets, Sheraton Crystal City

“Seeing big groups at rallies makes me proud of the fight we have and gives me strength to keep fighting. HEI should understand that we will keep fighting until we get more respect.”

-Ferdi Lazo, Engineer, Sheraton Crystal City