Immigrants

Woodfin Suites Hotel Workers Challenge No-match Firings

44 Woodfin Suites Hotel, Emeryville

Immigrant workers from the Woodfin Suites hotel and their supporters rally outside the hotel to demand that the owner pay $250,000 in back wages owed housekeepers for failure to comply with Emeryville's living wage ordinance, Measure C. Hotel managers fired 20 workers, accusing them of lacking legal permission to work, and alleging that they don't have valid Social Security numbers. Workers say the hotel iretaliated against them for trying to enforce the living wage ordinance. Emeryville's city council supported the workers, and ordered the owner to pay. Instead, Samuel Hardage, Woodfin's owner, asked his Congressman, Brian Bilbray, to pressure the Department of Homeland Security to investigate the workers' immigration status. Pictured: Sarah Norr, organizer for East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, who helped the workers get organized.

Previous Picture
Return to Woodfin Workers Gallery