Hilton disciplines worker for cooperating with government agent’s request

On August 1, 2009, the Hilton Corporation tried to intimidate its employees in Local 610 into silence and stifle their efforts to win a strong union contract. Hilton management at the El San Juan unjustly disciplined Carlos Cintron, a bellman and employee of 29 years. The hotel’s human relations manager, Waleska Otero, gave Carlos a write-up and threatened to give him a final warning because he complied with a Puerto Rico Department of Labor agent’s request for a copy of his union’s newsletter. With a final warning on his employee record, Carlos would have to worry daily that hotel management could fire him for the slightest mistake or perceived insubordination.

When questioned about her possibly illegal action, Ms. Otero did not disagree with Carlos's account of what happened. Instead, she made the absurd claim that by complying with the government agent’s request for information, Carlos was guilty of violating hotel policy by “distributing defamatory” union literature. Essentially Ms. Otero argued that Hilton hotel policy trumps labor law.

Hilton’s chief negotiator, attorney Desmond Massey, was asked what he thought of Ms. Otero’s actions. He was embarrassed by her reaction and responded, “I would not have advised her to do that.” When pressed to remove the write-up from Carlos’s file, Mr. Massey passed the buck, saying he did not have the authority to overrule Ms. Otero. When Ms. Otero was asked to rescind the write-up, she refused. After Carlos’s union challenged her action, Hilton later agreed to rescind Carlos’s write-up but stated that management had done nothing wrong and could continue to punish members for speaking to government agencies.

Disciplining Carlos Cintron for complying with a government agency’s request is not just vindictive, it's illegal. Management's unwillingness to remove the write-up or to admit wrongdoing is arrogant. And these actions send a very clear message that Hilton believes it can silence its employees through intimidation without being held accountable for its wrongful actions, even by the government.

The workers at the El San Juan Hotel and Casino, the Caribe Hilton, and the Condado Plaza refuse to be intimidated into silence and are ready to strike if necessary.

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