Hotel’s Anti-Union Workers Deliver Petition

In the latest skirmish of a months-long labor dispute at Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, about 20 anti-union workers marched to union offices demanding an immediate federally supervised election. Led by hotel painter Daniel Menzor, the workers carried signatures from 160 hotel employees. The Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union launched a high-profile unionization campaign at Loews in May. The union has asked the hotel to sign a “neutrality agreement,” promising not to dissuade workers from unionization. It also wants the hotel to recognize the union if a majority of workers sign union cards, rather than going through a more difficult federally supervised election. Loews spokesman Matt Lonner said the workers wrote and circulated the petition on their own, although the hotel did help prepare a news release announcing the march. Union organizing director Kurt Peterson said he was skeptical. “This is straight out of the union-buster textbook,” he said.