Chicago, IL – October 30, 2023 – LaborLab, a nonprofit organization that advocates for workers’ rights, today filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) alleging that theWit Hotel, a Hilton hotel in Chicago, has hired union-busters who are violate the law in an attempt to hide in the shadows.
According to the complaint, theWit Hotel hired anti-union persuader Carlos Ortiz, a managing partner at Solutions Labor Relations Consultants, to “persuade” house keeping staff against forming a union. However, neither Ortiz nor Solutions Labor Relations Consultants have disclosed this arrangement to the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), which is a violation of the Labor Management and Disclosure Act (LMRDA). The LMRDA requires employers and their labor relations consultants to disclose certain information about their anti-union activities to the USDOL and to their employees.
Ortiz has a history of violating the LMRDA. Between 2021 and 2022, Ortiz violated the LMRDA at least seven times by failing to disclose his employment by Carvana, Mason-Dixon Intermodal D/B/A Universal Intermodal, Graphic Packaging International, Grocery Delivery E-Services USA Inc, Keurig-Dr. Pepper Inc., Millwood, Inc., and Howmet Castings & Services, Inc.
“TheWit Hotel’s highly paid union-busters are violating the law,” said Bob Funk, executive director of LaborLab. “The LMRDA was passed to protect workers’ rights, and theWit Hotel is acting in bad faith by hiring union-busters who regularly violate transparency laws in a greedy attempt to prevent workers from joining together.”
In addition to Ortiz, the complaint also alleges that a second anti-union persuader is persuading workers over Zoom and refusing to share their true identity. LaborLab is calling on OLMS to investigate theWit Hotel and to hold it accountable for its violations of the LMRDA.
“The Wit Hotel is trying to intimidate and silence its workers,” said Funk. “We urge OLMS to hold theWit Hotel’s paid union-busters accountable for their violations of the law and to protect the rights of workers.”
###
