Valentines for labor rights

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, members of the Student Labor Action Project delivered Valentines to Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli and pillows to Penn President Amy Gutmann every hour from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. yesterday.

SLAP collected Valentines from more than 150 Penn students who support an ongoing campaign protesting alleged unfair treatment of hotel workers by HEI Hotels and Resorts, a company in which Penn invests.

The dispute has lead to questions of whether the University’s monetary investment means accountability for the company’s practices. According to Office of the Executive Vice President spokesman Tony Sorrentino, $15 million of Penn’s endowment is invested in HEI.

SLAP aims to raise awareness of allegations that, at three of its non-unionized hotels, HEI has been treating its employees inhumanely. However, College sophomore and SLAP member Rosie Brown named the investment as the reason for the group’s work over the past year and a half.

According to HEI spokesman Jess Petitt, however, such allegations are “hearsay and not truthful.” He said employee relations are extremely important to HEI.

When asked whether an employee could be reached to comment on the workers’ behalf, Petitt said speaking to one worker would only give one person’s perspective because in a “non-unionized community” the workers have no official representative.

SLAP wants Penn to take a stand in the dispute and use its investment to support an alternate method of unionization, Brown said. In particular, the group is calling for a public meeting between Penn and an HEI worker. In the past, SLAP members and Penn officials have met publicly at University Council meetings and in private.

“I think today went pretty well,” Brown said, adding that the group’s action going forward will depend on the University’s response to Monday’s efforts. She said the group will continue to seek a public meeting.

Carnaroli said the leverage Penn could exert in the dispute is limited.

He explained that Penn is a “limited partner” in HEI, meaning that, since the relationship began in 2004, the University had never been able to vote on or influence the way the company is run. He added that partnerships such as this generally last eight to 10 years, meaning that over time, Penn will have no stake in the company.

SLAP also suggested that Penn entirely withdraw its investment in HEI.

However, Carnaroli said divestment is not that simple. He said divestment can only occur if there is evidence that a company exhibits “substantial social harm.” He also said the sale of such an investment is reliant entirely on the finding of a buyer, and to sell in the current market would result in a major hit to Penn’s endowment.

HEI currently offers its employees the ability to unionize under the National Labor Relations Board’s standards, using a secret ballot.

Brown, however, said the secret ballot system is standing in the way of unionization efforts because the balance of power is skewed in favor of the corporation.

She said there is a two-week period leading up to a unionization vote in which companies, free from regulation, can both fire and cut back the hours of workers. She said this method could be used both for intimidation purposes and also to prevent workers from communicating with each other, thus inhibiting an organized effort.

But Petitt said the company has never used such methods of intimidation. He said anonymity is one benefit of the secret ballot system. Another safeguard, he said, is the fact that the vote is conducted by the National Labor Relations Board, thereby maintaining its fairness.

He added that the proposed alternative card check system puts employees at particular risk for intimidation and coercion. He said anyone can “walk up and directly ask” employees to sign the cards, which he believes is unfair.

The new system involves the signatures of workers on authorization cards. The union is created if a majority of workers sign the cards. This system is part of the Employee Free Choice Act — a piece of legislation originally cosponsored in the U.S. Senate by President Barack Obama, who still supports the bill.

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