Hotel Agrees to Labor Case Settlement

The Glendale Hilton has reached a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board over allegations that its managers threatened, interrogated and conducted surveillance of workers during a union organizing drive there last fall, hotel and union officials said Thursday.

The complaint, filed by the NLRB in May, alleged that the hotel’s managers videotaped employees as they protested outside the hotel, offered an employee a raise and promotion to stay out of the union and threatened to fire a worker who tried to bring in a cake that read “Welcome to the Union.”

Under the settlement, the Hilton admitted no wrongdoing. The hotel promised to respect its employees’ right to join a union and to post a notice at the hotel outlining those rights.

Hilton’s management said it settled to avoid further conflict with Unite Here, the union that is trying to organize workers at the Glendale property and other hotels around the country.

“We found that ... in order to avoid continued litigation over some of the isolated incidents, it would just be better to settle,” said Linda Norman, the hotel’s general manager.

A union spokeswoman said Unite Here would not challenge the settlement, but was monitoring the situation closely to make sure the Hilton was complying.