Castlewood Lockout Found Illegal!

UNITE HERE represents workers in the U.S. and Canada in:

August 20, 2012

In an August 17 decision, Administrative Law Judge Clifford Anderson of the National Labor Relations Board found that Castlewood Country Club has maintained an illegal lockout since August 10, 2010. He recommended that the NLRB order Castlewood to reinstate the locked-out workers and pay them two years of back wages and benefits.

"We've been saying for two years that Castlewood wasn't giving us a fair chance to get our jobs back. Now Judge Anderson is saying the same thing. I hope this will be a wake-up call to the golfers that they need to stop stalling and put us back to work," said Castlewood cook Carlos Mejia.

Anderson wrote, "I find that that the Club had abandoned its earlier good faith bargaining for a new contract and, as of August 10, 2010, the Respondent was no longer bargaining in good faith with an intent to reach an agreement. Rather, it was unlawfully endeavoring to frustrate the bargaining process and reduce the possibility of the parties arriving at any agreement . . . I further find that the Respondent's conduct on that date and the positions taken in bargaining on that day were undertaken because of its animus toward the Union and animus to the locked out employees who supported the Union in bargaining."

"We're thrilled about the decision, but we know we could still have a long fight in front of us," said Castlewood janitor Francisca Carranza. "We need our friends in the community to stand behind us as much as ever."

Learn more at www.endthelockout.org.