Posted at: 01/28/2010 10:24 PM
By: Matt McFarland

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Holiday Inn Express-Latham & Union reach settlement

LATHAM – Striking hotel workers, including a few that were fired from the Holiday Inn Express in Latham, will be returning to work as pending charges were settled between the hotel and the National Labor Relations Board.

          A hotel employee said, "I was part of the union committee and as soon as management found out we had intentions of forming a union, they went around firing those who had a part in it."

Now, the employees who were fired or went on strike can head back to work.  Three months after filing a formal complaint, the National Labor Relations Board reached an agreement with the hotel and its owner, Jim Morrell, in which the hotel promises full back pay for the fired workers, along with getting their jobs back.  Workers will have the opportunity to hold another union vote.  Finally, the Holiday Inn Express in Latham must post a list of violations that it will refrain from committing.

Sabrina Wheeler, a housekeeper, says that she was just standing up for workers and their rights.  “There's a sense of victory, like we've won.  This is the first time I've ever done something like this, stand up for what I believe in and my rights. So it’s definitely a victory.  He knows he's doing the right thing by doing this."

The Holiday Inn Express in Latham claims that the settlement is in no way an admission of guilt.  In a statement, the hotel says that this settlement allows them to move forward without incurring legal expenses which would greatly exceed the amount of money involved in paying back the three workers.

While Sabrina Wheeler is happy with the outcome, she says that it is not over.  “We're going back in there and we're going to do what we have to do to get the union back in there.  That's what the whole point of this was to begin with."

          There is no time frame yet on when the fired workers and those who joined them out on strike will be back at work.