Board rejects Hyatt employees’ claim of unfair labor practices by local union

The National Labor Relations Board has dismissed a claim made by a group of Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort & Spa employees accusing Unite Here Local 5 of unfair labor practices.

Honolulu Hyatt employees Mark Tamosiunas, Wayne Young, Steven Taono and Agnes Demarke, who were supported by the nonprofit National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, filed federal unfair labor practice charges against Local 5 in April. The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization that provides free legal aid to employees who want to challenge compulsory union dues.

The employees alleged that the union sent them a letter attempting to collect unpaid union dues and fees for June 2012 to August 2013, a period when a bargaining agreement was not in effect. They also alleged that Local 5 did not provide a copy of the new contract or a notice of their right to refrain from union membership.

However, Joseph Frankl, regional director of the NLRB, a federal agency charged with administering private-sector labor law, dismissed these claims on June 30. His decision said that in this instance the language in the union’s letter "could not be properly viewed as a threat but rather as an effort to collect back dues from employees who would like to be members in good standing with the union."

Frankl also dismissed the notification claim, writing that the union’s actions fell "within the wide range of reasonableness afforded a union in satisfying its duty of fair representation."

The employees have until July 14 to appeal or request more time to appeal Frankl’s decision to the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board.

Unite Here Local 5 was not immediately available for comment. The foundation did not return a call or email from the Star-Advertiser. However, earlier foundation staff attorneys said that Local 5 has had a history of abuses in Hawaii. They said that the foundation assisted Turtle Bay Resort employee Brenda Lee Orr and Hilton Hawaiian Beach Resort and Spa employee Grant Suzuki in winning federal settlements in 2008 that resulted in Local 5 refunding union dues and fees that were used for union politics. In 2012, Suzuki and another hotel employee, Daryl Sakugawa, filed charges alleging that they were made to contribute to a variety of activities outside of workplace negotiations, including political lobbying and a union strike fund.