{"id":172,"date":"2010-01-21T01:24:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-21T01:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/terragrafix.com\/blog\/?p=172"},"modified":"2010-01-21T01:24:00","modified_gmt":"2010-01-21T01:24:00","slug":"woodfin-doesnt-want-to-pay-its-workers-or-its-lawyers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thesecretnewsonline.com\/?p=172","title":{"rendered":"Woodfin Doesn’t Want to Pay Its Workers, OR Its Lawyers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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After Losing Court Battle to Deny Workers $200,000 in Back Wages, Woodfin Demands Emeryville Taxpayers Foot Its $500,000 Legal Bill<\/strong><\/span>
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by Secret News staff<\/p>\n

The Woodfin Suites Hotel in Emeryville filed a brief in Alameda County Superior Court demanding that Emeryville taxpayers pay the hotel about $500,000 in legal fees. The brief comes about one month after Superior Court Judge Steven Brick ordered the Woodfin to pay $200,000 in back wages to dozens of immigrant housekeepers, ending a lengthy and expensive court fight that began in 2006.<\/p>\n

News of the Woodfin’s demand that Emeryville pay the hotel’s legal fees has sparked anger among residents.<\/p>\n

“I’m floored,” said one resident. “The Woodfin spends years recklessly trying to undermine a voter-approved living wage law, and now they want a $500,000 ‘bailout’ from those same voters? They can’t be serious.”<\/p>\n

The Woodfin has yet to pay the workers and has recently suggested in court that it might appeal Judge Brick’s ruling, further prolonging the four-year legal fight. The dispute has sparked the continuing boycott of the Woodfin, more than 100 pickets, and the largest protest march in Emeryville’s history.<\/p>\n

The back wages are owed as the result of Measure C, a 2004 initiative that established a living wage for workers at Emeryville hotels, and also set guidelines for working conditions. The wage for housekeepers ranges from about $9.75 to $11.05 an hour. Emeryville’s three other hotels are in compliance.<\/p>\n

“I’m in this fight for my family,” said one worker, Maria. “I earned every cent of that money with my own sweat and hard work.”<\/p>\n

About 60 workers, residents, and supporters picketed the Woodfin last Saturday. The march began at 7:30 a.m. as a “wake up call” to the Woodfin that the boycott will continue until workers have checks in hand.<\/p>\n

“This is a gross injustice,” said Henry Norr, a retired journalist from Berkeley, in explaining why he joined the picket line. “The people who work the hardest are the people who get the least. It’s not right.”<\/span><\/div>\n


(Photos: Protestors at the Woodfin Saturday, Jan. 16. Photos by Tracy Schroth).<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n