Hotel Workers Continue Fighting For Union

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

Hotel workers hit the streets again outside the Sheraton Hotel in Northern Virginia last Thursday, beating drums and shouting “Yes we can” as rush-hour drivers honked their horns in support. The rally was the latest in a series of demonstrations where NoVa Hotel workers – including cooks, dishwashers and housekeepers from the Crystal City Hilton and the Doubletree Hotel – joined in solidarity with Sheraton workers to demand a free and fair process for unionizing. “The current process for trying to join a union is broken,” Maria Coreas, a housekeeper at the Sheraton Crystal City, told Union City. “We need legislation like the Employee Free Choice Act to protect us from being intimidated and threatened while we try to organize,” she added. Margaret Ellis (center), a switchboard worker from the Doubletree Crystal City, told Union City “I’m out here to support my brothers and sisters at the Sheraton because no one should be intimidated by their employer for trying to gain a collective voice.” - report/photo by Adam Wright