The Region - News from Jan. 19, 1986

The predominantly Latino Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union, Local 11, has appealed a recent federal court ruling ordering it to provide Spanish translation at its monthly general membership meetings. The local, which represents about 16,000 workers in the Los Angeles area, filed its appeal last week of the precedent-setting Dec. 27 ruling by District Judge Richard A. Gadbois Jr. in a suit brought by three dissident members. The local’s attorneys argued that, since the translation issue had been voted down at general membership meetings, the court should not interfere in the democratically set internal policies of the union. But the judge ruled in favor of the dissidents who charged that the union violated Spanish-speaking members’ rights to equal participation.