Students confront Hilton management

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4 SOCIALIST ACTION DECEMBER 2017 STAMFORD, Conn.—On Nov. 27, a dele­ gation of students from across Connecti­ cut arrived to tell management at the Hil­ ton Hotel in Stamford that they stood in solidarity with the workers organizing a union. We had representatives from Uni­ versity of Connecticut, Central Connecti­ cut State University, Connecticut College, and more to demand an end to manage­ ment’s intimidation campaign against the workers.

We walked through the shining face of capital that the hotel represents and marched right to the front desk. Once inside the lobby, our delegation could immediately see the balance of forces emerging in this struggle.

Most workers wore their white and red “Unite Here Local 217” buttons, while management sported their own large and ghoulishly purple “Vote NO” buttons with the company’s logo at the bottom. It is one thing to read about class struggle and to feel it during a normal day’s work, but at the Hilton, one can feel it breathing wherever one walks.

At the front desk, we got straight to the point. We immediately asked the woman sporting a big “Vote NO” pin to speak with Robert Langevin, the general man­ ager. She seemed to immediately know something was up, but remained profes­ sional and placed the call. We waited as a worker went up to the second floor, where management peers down at the comings and goings and movements of the workers through a large and intimi­ dating glass wall.

After 20 minutes or so, we were com­ pelled to make our way back to the front desk to implore the first manager that “we had all driven over an hour to be here, and couldn’t we just have five min­ utes with Robert?”

During the time we had been waiting in the lobby, management had the chance to go over strategy. Now when we asked about Robert, another manager, Jacinta Carter Vice president of Human Resourc­ es, was ready to hear us out. She led us to the empty dining room and three more managers, including Robert, appeared. We all sat down across from each other, eight college students being stared down by four of the higher-ups from man­ agement. We wondered if any of these people were from the pool of 18 union-busting managers that the management company, Atrium, had flown in to crack down on the drive.

Once everyone was gathered round the table, our delegation dove right into voicing our support for the workers. One student, Evan from UConn, spoke to the lack of respect shown by management, the grueling work, the precarious hours, and the starvation wages offered at the hotel, conditions which were hammered into all of our minds by talking to work­ ers and seeing the videos and articles coming out of this struggle. Everyone pointed out that the workers deserve a union, that management must immedi­ ately stop their intimidation meetings, and that workers are sorely underpaid and overworked.

Finally, we allowed them to respond, and what they had to say was downright laughable. In response to our question “is $11 a livable wage?” we were told “if you ask 100 people you will get 100 different answers.” This in a city and county with one of the highest cost-of-living indexes in the world.

In response to our demand that work­ ers stop being made to clean 40 rooms a day, we were told, “we abide by industry standards.” When pressed on “who sets industry standards?” Robert Langevin answered “industry.” We quickly retorted “no, the bosses!”

We pointed out, “Regardless of the number of rooms, having to work so hard that every day you come back from work in excruciating pain is too much.” To this stubborn fact, we were told that manage­ ment feels aches and pains too, and that is just a part of the job.

The cabal of bosses all but admitted that they have been intimidating workers, go­ ing so far as to try to justify the practice. They said, “we need to educate the work­ ers” on what it means (for management) that they unionize. According to them, sometimes this just needs to take place in a one-on-one setting and sometimes you just need multiple managers there to “translate.” The managers, the workers, and students, all know that this is a timeworn tactic of intimidation, of the bosses flexing their muscles and trying to show their power.

We had been in this “meeting” for around 20 minutes when a group of workers with gleaming white pins began marching towards us. They flanked the management from behind and broke into their ranks to offer us sincere gratitude for coming to support them. We thanked them back for being so courageous and strong and broke out into a round of ap­ plause.

Joining together with the workers was a truly triumphant moment. They came out after five minutes or so of management’s huffing and hawing, circling around out­ right, saying that they do not think peo­ ple deserve to be paid enough to live.

Langevin, Jacinta, and their cronies were obviously deeply unsettled by the open defiance that the workers, all on the clock, showed in barging into our meet­ ing. We decided to leave them shaken up, voiced one last time our unwavering sup­ port for the union, and made our way to the door, thrilled to bear witness to the incoherence and cowardice of the bosses.

After interacting with management and hearing their lies, the entire student del­ egation was convinced that the Hilton workers deserve a union now. n